Mainland and US diplomats agreed to resume the consultation in recent talks to arrange Mr Bush's visit to the mainland, sources said, adding that the development suggested progress in relations between the two powers.

Mr Bush will visit the mainland from November 19 to 21 after attending next week's Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation forum meeting in South Korea.

The round-table consultation was set up with the approval of then-president Jiang Zemin and his US counterpart, Bill Clinton, in the late 1990s, but was suspended in 2000 when relations between Beijing and the US, and between Beijing and Taipei, chilled.

This followed a series of conflicts between the Pacific powers including the air crash between a US spy plane and a mainland jet fighter and the rise to power of pro-independence leader Chen Shui-bian in Taiwan. The last meeting was held in New York in August 2000.

The forum was designed to discuss Sino-US and cross-strait relations with the aim of helping related government agencies resolve controversial issues.

In name, the forum is non-official. But influential politicians from the US, the mainland and Taiwan have attended previous forums. It is believed Mr Wang will meet officials from the US state and defence departments and the National Security Council during his visit, as well as Taiwanese politicians.

'It is one of the most important meetings between Taiwan Affairs Office officials and their US colleagues and direct Sino-US consultation on cross-strait affairs in the past few years,' said a source.

State Councillor Tang Jiaxuan approved the resumption of the consultations early last month as the top leadership believed the stalemate between Taipei and Beijing had eased in the past year.

Diplomatic analysts also said Beijing's strategy had become more flexible since Mr Hu became president in 2003. When Mr Chen called for a referendum to decide the island's status in the run-up to his re-election campaign last year, Mr Hu appealed to the US to rein him in.