CHINA / National

New policies issued to boost cross-Straits trade
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2006-04-15 15:53

Participants at the forum advocated healthy and orderly tourist cooperation across the Taiwan Straits.

It's the common expectation of the compatriots across the Straits to allow the mainland tourists to visit Taiwan, promote the personnel exchanges across the Straits and boost the economy across the Straits, according to the participants.

Allowing the mainland tourists to visit Taiwan will help boom the tourist and service industries in Taiwan and stabilize and rejuvenate the economy in Taiwan, said the participants.

They advise the mainland issue the management measures for the mainland tourists to visit Taiwan, and the Taiwan authorities should approve negotiation activities between unofficial Taiwan tourist organizations and the mainland-based association for tourist exchanges across the Taiwan Straits.

They pressed for direct flights across the Taiwan Straits and pledged to make joint efforts to push forward the issue, making it more convenient for the current cross-strait chartered flights and ensuring these flights to be carried out during festivals and weekends and on a regular base.

Non-governmental aviation associations of the two sides should hold talks on the issue of aerial routes as early as possible, so as to set up more convenient routes for direct flights across the straits, according to the Joint Proposal.

The two sides are urged to follow the example of "Macao Talks" which found resolutions for the 2005 Spring Festival chartered passenger flights.

At the opening of the forum, KMT Honorary Chairman Lien Chan, head of a KMT delegation, told the audience that it took him eight and a half hours to fly from Taibei to Beijing.

In addition, the participants also called for further expanding direct cargo shipping between Fujian and Taiwan provinces.

They urged the Taiwan Authorities to allow farm products to be directly shipped to the mainland from Taiwan ports like Kaohsiung, in order to reduce cost and loss. The mainland opened its market to Taiwan farmers last year.

Participants also called for the Taiwan authorities to allow the financial institutions from the Chinese mainland to set up branch offices in Taiwan. 

The Chinese mainland also promised to provide more convenience for the small and medium-sized enterprises from Taiwan to raise fund for operation, according to the Joint Proposals.

The financial institutions on the both sides across the Straits were encouraged to carry out discussions and research on setting up a financial supervision mechanism and on the technical preparations to do business across the Straits, say the proposals.

In addition, the financial practitioners from the Chinese mainland and Taiwan were promoted to hold professional trainings and academic exchanges to share their experiences of development, say the proposals.

Besides, measures would be taken to support the Taiwan service industry to enter the Chinese mainland's market, strengthen the cross-Straits exchanges and cooperation in the fields of communication and information industries and push forward making common standards for the information industry on the both sides of the Straits, say the proposals.

The Chinese mainland would take further step to boost the economic exchanges and cooperation between the "west bank of the Straits" with Taiwan.

The Joint Proposals also press for direct flights and healthy and orderly tourism cooperation across the Taiwan Straits.

About 500 people, including the Chinese Kuomintang (KMT) Honorary Chairman Lien Chan, four vice-chairmen of the KMT, officials of the New Party and the People First Party, as well as business people, officials and scholars from both sides of the Taiwan Strait, attended the forum.

Taiwan authorities urged to implement agreement

Vice President Wu Po-hsiung of the Taiwan-based Chinese Kuomintang (KMT) party asked here Saturday the Taiwan authorities led by the Democratic Progressive Party to implement the proposals put forward by the cross-Straits economic and trade forum.

On the basis of the "1992 consensus," the institutionalized exchanges between the mainland and Taiwan should be resumed, said Wu at the closing ceremony of the two-day forum.

The "1992 consensus" says that both sides across the Taiwan Straits accept the "one-China principle," but with their own interpretations.

The economic and trade ties on the basis of mutual benefit and win-win principle should be built across the Taiwan Straits, and the two sides should hold such economic and trade forums regularly in the future, he said.

During the forum, the Chinese mainland announced a new package of policies to promote economic and trade relations across the Taiwan Straits on Saturday.


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