Taipei  - Taiwan and China on Saturday launched a historic swim between a Taipei-controlled island and the mainland as a gesture of peace amid warming cross-strait relations.

Nearly 100 swimmers - 48 from Taiwan and 49 from China - crossed a narrow sea separating Kinmen island and the coastal city of Xiamen.

"The fact that the two sides of the Taiwan Strait are able to hold such an event after six decades of hostility signifies that Taiwan and the mainland are striding towards peace," said Lee Juh-feng, Kinmen magistrate and organizer of the event.

Lee greeted the swimmers on shore at Shuangkou on Kinmen, once a military zone. The event was co-hosted by the Xiamen city government.

Li Yenhan, a member of the Tienjin Swimming Centre in China, was the first to complete the 7.1-kilometre swim, finishing in one hour and 10 minutes.

"It is nothing difficult," the 22-year-old said. "There were some rough currents somewhere near Binlan islet, but after that, it was a smooth course."

Lee said the event was not a competition. "This is an event to increase the friendly exchanges and peaceful cooperation between the two sides," he said.

Kinmen was once a war zone between China and Taiwan, which split in 1949 after a civil war. In August 1958, the Chinese military fired more than 470,000 shells on Kinmen in a 44-day artillery bombardment, which killed 618 servicemen and civilians.

Relations between Taiwan and China have improved since Beijing-friendly President Ma Ying-jeou took office in May in Taiwan and adopted a policy to engage the mainland.  (dpa)