BEIJING - China will further ease restrictions for Taiwanese to do business on the Chinese mainland, enabling them to share in the many development opportunities, a mainland official said Wednesday.

From Jan 1, 2016, the mainland will open 24 sectors, including advertising, packaging, and clothing, to individual entrepreneurs from the island, Ma Xiaoguang, spokesperson for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, announced Wednesday at a press briefing.

Previously Taiwanese businesspeople were only allowed to explore retail and catering opportunities on the mainland.

The number of regions open to Taiwanese business ventures has also been increased from nine to all areas in the mainland, excluding Tibet, Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia and Gansu. Restrictions on the number of employees and maximum business floor area have also been lifted, according to Ma.

He believes these new policies will benefit more ordinary people in Taiwan, especially those who are open to exploring opportunities on the economically-strong mainland.

The Chinese mainland has welcomed Taiwanese individual business since the end of 2011, in a bid to "let the Taiwan people be the first to share mainland's development opportunities."

So far more than 3,500 Taiwanese have registered as individual businesses on the mainland, with many already well established, Ma said.