Taipei- The Ninth China Book Exhibition opened in Taipei on Saturday, amid expanding economic and cultural ties between Taipei and Beijing.

Some 400 Chinese publishing companies are taking part in the book fair at the Taipei World Trade Centre, which displays some 120,000 book and magazine titles from China.

Relations between China and Taiwan have warmed following the inauguration of Taiwan's China-friendly president Ma Ying-jeou.

During the three-day book fair, the 600-strong Chinese delegation will hold talks with their Taiwan counterparts on copyright issues and attend seminars on cross-strait cooperation in publishing.

The books displayed and sold at the exhibition cover culture, science, medicine and travel as well as novels and dictionaries. Taiwan bans the import of political works from China, as Taipei officially rejects China's Communist state ideology.

In the field of cultural exchange, Taiwan's export of books to China has grown from 14,362 titles in 2003 to 34,549 in 2006, while titles exported form China to Taiwan has risen from 154,712 in 2003 to 415,101 in 2006, according to the organizer of the book fair. (dpa)