TAIPEI: Postal services on both sides of the Taiwan Straits have reached an agreement on a framework of cooperation that opens the way for them to launch joint online shopping services, an official at Taiwan's government-run Chunghwa Post Co said yesterday.

Tseng Chin-hsiung, director of Chunghwa Post's Department of Mail Business, said it is hoped that the company will be able to open its virtual shop on the Beijing-based China Post website next year, and vice versa.

The plan is for Chunghwa Post to feature a "mainland pavilion" on its website and for the China Post Group to include a "Taiwan pavilion" on its site, Tseng said.

Products in the shops will all be carefully inspected to ensure that online shoppers will not receive substandard goods, he noted.

Chunghwa Post President Hu Sheue-yun said talks on e-business cooperation between the two post offices have been conducted for years. The two sides finally reached a consensus on setting up reciprocal shopping platforms, he said, but some details still have to be finalized.

Tseng explained that some technical issues, such as computer connections, also remain unresolved.

China Daily/CNA

(HK Edition 12/23/2009 page2)