Taipei  - The Red Cross societies of Taiwan and China are to increase cooperation with the signing of an agreement that follows improved relations across the Taiwan Strait, Taiwan's Central News Agency (CNA) said Wednesday.

Chen Shih-kuei, secretary general of the Taiwan Red Cross, was quoted as saying that a pact was to be signed soon in Taipei with China's Red Cross. Their first agreement was signed 19 years ago.

The new agreement is to include cooperation in the areas of medical assistance and sea rescues, Chen said.

Taiwan and China split after the Chinese Civil War in 1949, and tensions between their two governments only began to thaw in the late 1980s.

In September 1990, their Red Cross societies signed the Kinmen Agreement, under which Taiwan agreed to deport illegal Chinese job seekers and criminals to China via Kinmen, a Taiwan-held islet off China's south-east coast. The Kinmen Agreement is still in effect.

Since Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou took office on May 20, cross-strait ties have improved rapidly. (dpa)