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High-level cross-strait talks planned for June 20

ROC Central News Agency

2013/06/14 20:15:55

Taipei, June 20 (CNA) The ninth round of high-level talks between Taiwan and China in five years will be held in Shanghai June 20-22, during which a service trade agreement will be signed, according to Taiwan's intermediary Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF).

Both sides say the pact, a major follow-up to the landmark Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) signed in 2010 between Taiwan and China, will greatly expand the cross-strait market.

Delegations to the talks next week will be headed by SEF Chairman Lin Join-sane and Chen Deming, president of the Beijing-based Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS). It will be the first time that the two meet for talks since they took over from their predecessors Chiang Pin-kung and Chen Yunlin.

Besides sealing the pact on June 21, both sides will review how previous cross-strait agreements have been implemented and draw up the agenda of the next round of high-level talks, the SEF said.

Lin said last month that both sides are in the process of pursuing another agreement on trade in goods, which is expected to be signed by the end of this year.

Responding to media questions about possible downsides the service trade deal might bring to the domestic service sector, the SEF said the government has carried out thorough examination and is fully prepared for any negative impact, although it is likely to be minor.

Chang Chun-fu, director-general of the Bureau of Foreign Trade, said a report over the changes that need to be made in accordance to the agreement will be submitted to lawmakers by the opening of next legislative session in September.

The officials' comments came after a three-hour meeting in preparation for the high-level talks, with both sides vowing to keep creating more opportunities for cross-strait cooperation.

There have been eight rounds of talks to date between SEF and ARATS since they were resumed in June 2008, a month after President Ma Ying-jeou was sworn in.

Those talks were dubbed Chiang-Chen talks after the surnames of the two chief negotiators. In Friday's preparatory talks, however, both sides decided not to use this formula and will instead call future talks by their number in the order.

(By Lee Hsin-Yin)