Negotiators set details on Strait agreement
Source: Xinhua/Shanghai Daily |
June 29, 2010, Tuesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
NEGOTIATORS from the Chinese mainland and Taiwan finalized details yesterday on a landmark trade pact that will bind the economies of the two sides closer than ever.
The mainland's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait and Taiwan's Strait Exchange Foundation met in the southwest Chinese city of Chongqing ahead of a ceremony today to mark the signing of the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement and an agreement on intellectual property rights protection.
The economic agreement will "benefit people across the Taiwan Strait, deepen economic cooperation, draw on each other's advantages, and realize mutual benefit," Zheng Lizhong, the mainland group's executive vice president, said at the meeting.
"The agreement will also enhance the economic competitiveness and vitality of economies on both sides of the Strait," he said.
No tariffs
The pact will do away with tariffs on hundreds of products traded across the Taiwan Strait and allow Taiwanese firms access to 11 service sectors on the mainland, including banking, accounting, insurance and hospitals.
Under the trade pact, Taiwanese companies will receive tariff advantages on 539 products exported to the mainland, while mainland companies will receive advantages on 267 products in the Taiwan market.
The deal gives Taiwanese banks operating on the mainland the right to conduct business in local currency two years after establishing local branches.
It also lets them offer yuan loans to mainland-based Taiwanese companies, assuming the branches are profitable after their first year of operation.
At a welcoming ceremony yesterday in honor of the Taiwan negotiators headed by the group's chairman, Chiang Pin-kung, the mainland association chief Chen Yunlin said the inking of the two agreements will "open a new page" for cross-Strait ties.
Mutual benefit
"The ECFA is a strategic move by both sides across the Taiwan Strait to improve the competitiveness of the Chinese in the face of new problems arising from the globalization of the world economy and regional integration," he said.
Chiang said the new agreement would further remove barriers to cross-Strait trade and investment and would benefit people on both sides. He said the intellectual property rights protection was an inevitable move that will help development of high-tech products on both sides of the Strait.
About 40,000 Taiwan firms operate on the mainland. Bilateral trade totals about US$110 billion a year, with about US$80 billion flowing to Taiwan, and US$30 billion to the mainland.
The mainland's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait and Taiwan's Strait Exchange Foundation met in the southwest Chinese city of Chongqing ahead of a ceremony today to mark the signing of the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement and an agreement on intellectual property rights protection.
The economic agreement will "benefit people across the Taiwan Strait, deepen economic cooperation, draw on each other's advantages, and realize mutual benefit," Zheng Lizhong, the mainland group's executive vice president, said at the meeting.
"The agreement will also enhance the economic competitiveness and vitality of economies on both sides of the Strait," he said.
No tariffs
The pact will do away with tariffs on hundreds of products traded across the Taiwan Strait and allow Taiwanese firms access to 11 service sectors on the mainland, including banking, accounting, insurance and hospitals.
Under the trade pact, Taiwanese companies will receive tariff advantages on 539 products exported to the mainland, while mainland companies will receive advantages on 267 products in the Taiwan market.
The deal gives Taiwanese banks operating on the mainland the right to conduct business in local currency two years after establishing local branches.
It also lets them offer yuan loans to mainland-based Taiwanese companies, assuming the branches are profitable after their first year of operation.
At a welcoming ceremony yesterday in honor of the Taiwan negotiators headed by the group's chairman, Chiang Pin-kung, the mainland association chief Chen Yunlin said the inking of the two agreements will "open a new page" for cross-Strait ties.
Mutual benefit
"The ECFA is a strategic move by both sides across the Taiwan Strait to improve the competitiveness of the Chinese in the face of new problems arising from the globalization of the world economy and regional integration," he said.
Chiang said the new agreement would further remove barriers to cross-Strait trade and investment and would benefit people on both sides. He said the intellectual property rights protection was an inevitable move that will help development of high-tech products on both sides of the Strait.
About 40,000 Taiwan firms operate on the mainland. Bilateral trade totals about US$110 billion a year, with about US$80 billion flowing to Taiwan, and US$30 billion to the mainland.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
