Players unfold the huge banner of the cross-Straits baseball league. [Photo/wxrb.com]

An annual cross-Straits baseball tournament that got underway in Wuxi on June 23 wound up after five days' of play, seeing a higher competitive level and closer relations between players of the Chinese mainland and Taiwan.

The baseball friendly match, first initiated in 2011 by the Chinese Baseball Association and the Chinese Taipei Baseball Association, has been hosted in turns by the two sides and has gradually become recognized as a traditional sports event.

Four professional teams came all the way from Taiwan to rival their counterparts from Shanghai, Jiangsu, Guangdong and Sichuan. An additional group of eight youth teams offered the young bloods the chance to take their first swings of the bat in official matches.