BEIJING - Chinese mainland authorities welcome the healthy expansion of tourism cooperation and exchanges across the Taiwan Strait, but will not allow its citizens to gamble in Taiwan, a spokesperson said Wednesday.

Speaking at a regular press conference in Beijing, Fan Liqing, spokesperson with the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, said mainland regulations and cross-Strait agreements between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan are consistent in that they prohibit mainland tourists from engaging in gambling activities on the island.

Gambling is banned on the mainland.

Fan said the Chinese mainland hoped to further push forward cross-Strait tourism cooperation and exchanges in Kinmen, which is just two kilometers from the coastal mainland city of Xiamen.

"We would rather not see Kinmen tourism, which has tremendous potential, impacted by the gambling industry," Fan said.