從1980年代末開始兩岸旅遊交流十分迅速，但長期以來多為台灣人民赴中國大陸旅遊，成為一種不平衡的發展；此外，近年台灣入境旅遊成長有限，而中國出境旅遊又快速崛起，因此政府也循序漸進的開放中國民眾來台旅遊。當2002年臺灣宣布開放中國觀光客來台時，由於適逢民進黨執政而兩岸關係發展低迷，使得中國一開始對此政策採取消極態度，但之後鑑於陸客來台可對臺灣經濟與就業產生直接幫助，在有利於其政治宣傳的前提下開始與臺灣進行談判，但仍因政治因素造成進展有限。2008年國民黨重新執政，兩岸在「九二共識」的基礎上迅速恢復談判，陸客也在中國的刻意操作下大量來台。由此可見，中國將觀光客來台此一單純的經濟與觀光議題，摻雜了過多的政治考量，但也顯示出當前中國對台政策的積極性與靈活性。

At the end of the 1980’s trips between Taiwan and Mainland China rapidly grew but the long-term status of Taiwanese visiting China has caused a severe imbalance. In addition, entry to Taiwan in recent years has been limited while outbound China tourists have grown. Thus, the government has gradually allowed tourists from China. When Taiwan announced its decision to welcome tourists from Mainland China in 2002, the Democratic Progressive Party was currently in office and the cross-Strait relations were very poor. This caused China to react negatively towards the policy. However, China eventually realized that tourist influx from Mainland China to Taiwan can directly stimulate Taiwan’s economy and employment rate. Soon after, a series of negotiations born of political motivations began between the two parties. Developments were constrained nevertheless due to several political issues. In 2008, the Kuomintang (KMT) won and regained its government authority. The two parties then resumed its negotiations in light of the Consensus of 1992 and droves of Chinese visitors started to arrive in Taiwan. This proves that allowing Chinese citizens to visit Taiwan is not only a simple economic and tourism issue, pondering to much and deeply over the matter by the government. After all, this also demonstrates China’s positive concern and flexibility towards Taiwan policies.