By Li Hongmei

The Chinese mainland and Taiwan will hold their first "institution-to institution" talks on Tuesday, a historic step towards a warming cross-strait relations.

Taipei's Wang Yu-chi, who oversees the island's mainland policy, arrived in Nanjing for a meeting with Zhang Zhijun, chief of Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, on the first day of his four-day mainland trip, reports the Xinhua news agency.

The meeting is the fruit of years of efforts from both sides to improve relations.

While no official agenda has been released for the talks, widely seen as a confidence-building move, Wang Yu-chi last month said they had "crucial implications for further institutionalization of ties between the two sides".

The thaw comes after the two sides made cautious steps towards economic reconciliation in recent years. In June 2010, the mainland and Taiwan signed the landmark Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement.

"The current interaction across the Taiwan Strait is quite positive," said Jia Qingguo, a professor of international studies at Peking University.

Ties have "been developing very fast, but the potential of this relationship has not been fully tapped (by) both sides," he said.