Mainland, Taiwan negotiators sign service trade agreement

（Xinhua）  18:21, June 21, 2013  

SHANGHAI, June 21 (Xinhua) -- Negotiators from the Chinese mainland and Taiwan signed a service trade agreement on Friday that is expected to further strengthen cross-Strait economic ties.

The agreement was inked by the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) and the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF).

The ARATS and SEF are authorized by the mainland and Taiwan, respectively, to handle cross-Strait affairs.

According to the agreement, the Chinese mainland will open 80 service sectors to Taiwan, while Taiwan will open 64 sectors to the mainland.

The sectors include those related to commerce, telecommunications, construction, distribution, environment, health, tourism, entertainment, culture, sports, transportation and finance.

ARATS President Chen Deming said the agreement "marks a new level for cross-Strait economic and trade cooperation and complies with the trend of the world's economic development."

Under the service trade agreement, the threshold for market access will be lowered for service providers from both sides and more favorable policies will be formulated to boost cross-Strait cooperation in the service industry.

The agreement will further normalize and liberalize the service trade between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan, as well as promote the opening-up of mutual markets in the service sector, the ARATS and SEF said in a joint press release.

The agreement is one of several follow-up agreements to the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement, a comprehensive cross-Strait economic pact signed in 2010. The pact is intended to reduce tariffs and commercial barriers between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan.

The service trade agreement has stipulated basic service trade principles, rights and obligations, the orientation of development and relevant working mechanisms for both sides.

Also on Friday, the ARATS and SEF vowed to proceed with other follow-up agreements to the ECFA. Negotiations on a commodity trade agreement and a dispute settlement agreement are expected to be completed before the end of the year, and a pact to avoid double taxation is expected to be signed in the later half of this year.

The ARATS and SEF have also agreed to address shortages of fresh water in Kinmen and move ahead with talks on the establishment of offices on each other's side.

The two sides will hold talks on agreements regarding cross-Strait cooperation on earthquake monitoring and matters of meteorology.

The two sides also pledged to further exchange views on Chen's proposal to launch negotiations on agreements that would facilitate cross-Strait exchanges in culture, education and science sectors.