ECFA not one-off agreement, more consultations to follow
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Negotiators from the Chinese mainland and Taiwan said Tuesday that their long-awaited economic pact is far from a "one-off" agreement and that talks would continue after the agreement is signed.
The two sides should conduct follow-up consultations in a timely manner according to the implementation of the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) to be signed Tuesday afternoon, said Chiang Pin-kung, chairman of Taiwan's Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), in talks with mainland counterpart Chen Yunlin.
Chen, president of the mainland-based Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS), said, "The two sides will continue discussing agreements on commodity trade and service trade after the ECFA is signed.
"I hope relevant parties can promote actively the implementation of the ECFA after it is signed so as to make it generate economic benefits for people on both sides at an early date," Chen said.
Chen and Chiang started their talks at around 9 a.m. in Chongqing Municipality.
They are expected to finalize the economic pact and an agreement on the protection of intellectual property rights during their talks.
This is the fifth round of talks since the ARATS and the SEF resumed negotiations in June 2008 after an 11-year suspension.
At the talks, negotiators made final confirmations on the text and five annexes of the ECFA, which set down the essence, definitions, objectives and measures for economic cooperation across the Straits, Chen said.
New problems arising in economic globalization and regional integration had pressured the two sides to sign the ECFA.
The agreement, inspired by experiences from their joint efforts in fighting the global financial crisis and economic downturn, was a "give-and-take and goodwill" move, he said.
The agreement on intellectual property rights (IPR) protection aimed to set up a long-term mechanism to fight pressing problems of online piracy, patent imitation, and pre-emptive trademark registration, Chen said.
Chiang said the IPR protection agreement could serve as a platform for communication and a mechanism to deal with piracy and counterfeiting cases involving both sides.
"It'll help to create a sound environment for innovation, research and development in companies across the Straits," Chiang said.
Founded in 1991 and 1990 respectively, the ARATS and SEF are authorized by the mainland and Taiwan to handle cross-Straits exchanges. The two organizations agreed to meet twice a year on the mainland and Taiwan alternately in 2008.
