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"Positive progress" in cross-Strait trade pact: mainland

Xinhua, November 25, 2015 Adjust font size:

The Chinese mainland and Taiwan have high hopes on the establishment of a commodity trade pact after their latest talks on the matter, a Chinese official said on Wednesday.

An Fengshan, spokesman for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, told a press conference that "positive progress" had been made during the discussions in Taipei between Nov. 21 and 23.

As a key part of Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA), signed between the mainland and Taiwan in 2010, the commodity trade pact focuses on tariff reduction and removal, rules on commodity origin, customs procedures and trade remedies.

Negotiators from the two sides will have their 13th discussion on the pact in December.

As for the service trade pact, another key part of ECFA which was delayed by student protests in 2014, An expressed his hope that the mainland and Taiwan can work together to see the pact take effect as soon as possible, "for the sake of the interests and welfare of cross-Strait compatriots."

"Cross-Strait economic engagement involves more cooperation than competition," said An. Endi