About 1.23 million Chinese mainland tourists visited Taiwan last year, a sharp increase of 127.8 percent year on year, the island's tourist authority announced Tuesday.

More than 1.63 million mainlanders visited Taiwan last year, up 67.75 percent from 2009, including tourists, business travelers and others, said a statement from the authority.

It said the mainland had replaced Japan to become the largest source of customers for Taiwan's tourism industry.

The island received about 5.57 million visitors from both the mainland and foreign countries, up 26.67 percent from 2009, an all-time high.

Taiwan tourist authority expected the number of visitors to the island to hit 6.5 million this year.

The mainland and Taiwan are working on a plan to allow individual mainland tourists to visit the island, which is expected to be implemented this year. At present, Taiwan only permits mainlanders on package tours with stays of up to 15 days.

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