A passenger ferry operating routes between Pingtan county in Fujian and Taiwan will be better protected thanks to a new pact with a marine rescue agency signed on Aug 18.

Under the agreement, the Fuzhou branch of the Donghai rescue bureau, an organ under the Ministry of Transport, will step up safeguarding efforts for the high-speed ship Haixia and provide maintenance service on a regular basis. The two sides will enhance cooperation in emergency handling as well.

The Haixia now runs Pingtan-Taichung and Pingtan-Taipei routes every week.

Since being launched in Nov 2011, the Haixia has completed more than 1,000 trips, transferring over 30,000 passengers from across the Taiwan Straits. In the 131 round-trips in the first half of 2014, no emergencies occurred, according to a report by Xinhua News Agency.