BEIJING — The housing authority of the Chinese mainland will grant employees from Taiwan equal rights to the housing provident fund.

The Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development said on June 9 that it will soon make a nationwide policy without giving a concrete timetable.

The policies will support the deposits into and withdrawals from the public provident fund by employees from Taiwan to make it easier for them to buy or rent homes.

With more and more people from Taiwan working on the mainland, several local authorities, including those of Fujian province, Shanghai municipality and the city of Yangzhou, have taken measures to grant them access to the fund.

The number of employees from Taiwan on the mainland rose from 290,000 in 2005 to 420,000 in 2015, the island’s statistics authority said earlier this year.

Under current regulations, urban residents on the mainland, together with their employers, pay a portion of their incomes into the housing provident fund to be eligible for low-interest housing loans. The fund can also be used for rents, renovations and major illnesses.