BEIJING - The Chinese Ministry of Transport (MOT) announced on Thursday that foreign companies, organizations and individuals will be prohibited from entering the irregularly scheduled maritime cargo transport business across the Taiwan Straits beginning next year.

In a statement announcing the new measures on its website, the MOT said the direct maritime shipment of goods will be carried out by enterprises in the Chinese mainland and Taiwan.

The move aims to implement an agreement between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan on direct maritime shipments, according to the statement.

The new arrangement will benefit the shipping industry across the Taiwan Straits and help promote a sound development of the shipping industry in the mainland and Taiwan, it said.

At the early days after the Chinese mainland and Taiwan realized the three direct links of post, trade and transport in 2008, some foreign shipping enterprises were given special licenses to transport chemical products via a third place due to the temporary shortage of such shipping capacity in the mainland and Taiwan.

As various types of vessels kept growing amid improved management of cross-Straits direct shipping routes over the past two years, the mainland and Taiwan are now capable of satisfying the demands for cross-Strait shipment of chemical products, according to the statement.