Taipei -- Taiwan said Tuesday it would allow multinational corporations to bring in more employees from Chinese mainland for regional company meetings, addressing a key business demand on the issue.

Joseph Wu, chairman of the "Cabinet-level" body in charge of relations with the mainland, said the current limit of 30 mainland visitors per meeting would be expanded, indicating that applications for "hundreds of visitors" could be approved.

"The (present) maximum limit doesn't fit the demands of the time," he said.

On a related issue, Wu reaffirmed earlier indications that by the end of the year tourists from Chinese mainland will be allowed to visit the island without passing through a third point.

Negotiations on the issue are now going forward between Taiwan and mainland officials.

"If the current climate for talks between Taiwan and the mainland persists, we can allow 1,000 mainland tourists a day to visit the island, beginning four or five months from now," Wu said.

Wu's comments came in the wake of last week's economic forum, which featured discussions on Taiwan's commercial relations with the mainland.

That meeting produced few indications of coming commercial liberalization with Beijing, despite pressure from Taiwan's powerful business community to soften mainland policies.