The Ministry of Economic Affairs yesterday said that a ministry delegation to Beijing this week did not exchange lists on “early harvest” items for a proposed economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) with China, but touched ground on the framework for the list and issues that concerned industry players.
A delegation led by Bureau of Foreign Trade Director-General Huang Chih-peng (黃志鵬) arrived in Beijing on Wednesday for the fourth round of informal talks on a cross-strait ECFA.
Huang is leaving for Singapore today for the annual APEC summit, which will wrap up next Sunday.
“The delegation didn’t exchange lists on ‘early harvest’ [items]. They exchanged information on the principles and models on how the lists should be made,” Vice Minister of Economic Affairs Liang Kuo-hsin (梁國新) told reporters yesterday.
They also discussed research data provided by both parties on the potential economic impact of an ECFA, including models that were used in the research, differences in data and how a consensus could be reached, Liang said.
The results of the meeting will be brought back to Taiwan for further evaluation, he said.
The ministry declined to answer whether a fifth round of talks would be held after completing the research phase of the informal talks or move on to the first formal round of negotiations.
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