BEIJING, Dec. 31 -- A pact on cross-strait cooperation on civil flight safety and airworthiness certification went into effect on Thursday.

The agreement was signed by the mainland-based Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) President Chen Deming and Taiwan-based Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) Chairman Lin Join-sane during their talks in August.

"The pact will help civil aviation industries on the two sides of the Taiwan Straits to establish a platform for exchanges and cooperation, optimize flight safety management and reduce operating costs," said the ARATS in a statement.

For example, cross-strait flights will no longer need to bring their own machinists and spare parts, they can simply resort to local maintenance, industry sources said.