BEIJING — China wants direct transport links between the mainland and Taiwan as soon as possible, commerce minister of China, Chen Deming, said.

Stronger links between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait would help mitigate the impact of the American subprime mortgage crisis, Mr. Chen said in a panel discussion at the Boao Forum for Asia in China’s southern Hainan province.

“Direct transport links and the normalization of economic relations should be implemented as soon as possible,” Mr. Chen said. “The two economies across the Strait have different characteristics and environments and can complement each other.”

The president-elect of Taiwan, Ma Ying-Jeou, has pledged to end a five-decade ban on regular direct flights to China’s mainland as soon as he takes office. Links have been limited since the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949, forcing passengers to travel via Hong Kong or another destination.

The restrictions “are increasing the costs of Taiwanese businesses,” the chairman of Cosco Pacific Ltd., Wei Jiafu, told the discussion. The company is Asia’s third-largest container-terminal operator.

President Hu said yesterday China will make efforts to push forward negotiations on weekend charter flights and allow mainland tourists to travel to Taiwan, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

Mr. Hu made the comments during his meeting with Taiwan’s vice president-elect, Vincent Siew, at the Boao Forum. That meeting was the highest-level contact between leaders of the two neighbors across the Taiwan Strait in almost six decades.

China and Taiwan may start weekend charter flights on July 4, the Taipei-based China Times reported yesterday, without citing anyone.

Opening direct transport links with mainland China is the “most important” part of Taiwan’s strategy to boost the island’s economy, Siew said earlier today at the forum.