BEIJING - A submarine communication cable directly linking the two sides of the Taiwan Straits will open on Friday, according to a Chinese mainland spokesman.

Construction of the fibre-optic cable, the first of its kind, has already been completed, said Yang Yi, spokesman for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, at a regular press conference on Wednesday.

Once put into use, the cable will make it much easier for people on the two sides of the Straits to communicate, Yang said.

Yang said its launch will be "good news" for the mainland and Taiwan, as it is another important achievement in developing the "three direct links" of cross-Straits mail, trade, and air and shipping services.

With a length of 270 km, the cable connects the city of Fuzhou of Fujian province on the mainland and Taiwan's Tamsui.

According to the spokesman, several telecommunication operators on both sides of the Straits have jointly invested in the project, which incorporated the most advanced transmission technologies.

Yang also expressed the mainland's willingness to give water supplies for people in the Kinmen archipelago, located off the coast off Fujian, to help alleviate a water shortage there.

"We have been concerned about the water shortage problem and will provide any support with all-out efforts to compatriots in Kinmen as long as it can do them good," Yang said.

"Coastal areas in Fujian are ready to supply water to Kinmen anytime upon the island's approval," he added.

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