Taiwan and China lowered import tariffs on more than 800 products yesterday under the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA).
China cut duties on 557 items imported from Taiwan including fish and bicycles, an increase from 539 when the ECFA was signed in June, China’s Ministry of Commerce said in a statement on its Web site on Wednesday. Taiwan will lower tariffs on 267 items such as tea and cement from China as part of the “early harvest” list.
The “early harvest” list includes items that will enjoy preferential tariffs first under the EFCA, a treaty that also includes the opening of industries.
Cross-strait tensions have eased since President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) took office in May 2008 and dropped the pro-independence stance of his predecessor, making economic relations with China the government’s priority. Taiwan has signed 15 deals with China since 2008, most recently an agreement on medical and healthcare cooperation last month.
“Taiwan’s economic growth is very likely to overshoot in 2011 because of the agreement with China,” Aidan Wang (王誠宏), an economist at Yuanta Securities Investment Consulting Co (元大投顧), said by telephone on Friday. “More significantly, Chinese tourists and capital will contribute to Taiwan’s domestic demand and help the nation to be less export dependent.”
The nation’s benchmark TAIEX has climbed 21 percent since the ECFA was signed and it closed at a two-and-a-half-year high on Friday.
China also opened markets in six service industries yesterday, including banking, securities, insurance, hospital services, design services and civil aircraft repairs, China’s Ministry of Commerce said on Wednesday.
The seventh cross-strait talks this year will continue to discuss an investment protection accord, Zheng Lizhong (鄭立中), vice chairman of China’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait, told reporters in Taipei last month.
Taiwanese Olympic badminton men’s doubles gold medalist Wang Chi-lin (王齊麟) and his new partner, Chiu Hsiang-chieh (邱相榤), clinched the men’s doubles title at the Yonex Taipei Open yesterday, becoming the second Taiwanese team to win a title in the tournament. Ranked 19th in the world, the Taiwanese duo defeated Kang Min-hyuk and Ki Dong-ju of South Korea 21-18, 21-15 in a pulsating 43-minute final to clinch their first doubles title after teaming up last year. Wang, the men’s doubles gold medalist at the 2020 and 2024 Olympics, partnered with Chiu in August last year after the retirement of his teammate Lee Yang
FALSE DOCUMENTS? Actor William Liao said he was ‘voluntarily cooperating’ with police after a suspect was accused of helping to produce false medical certificates Police yesterday questioned at least six entertainers amid allegations of evasion of compulsory military service, with Lee Chuan (李銓), a member of boy band Choc7 (超克7), and actor Daniel Chen (陳大天) among those summoned. The New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office in January launched an investigation into a group that was allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified medical documents. Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) has been accused of being one of the group’s clients. As the investigation expanded, investigators at New Taipei City’s Yonghe Precinct said that other entertainers commissioned the group to obtain false documents. The main suspect, a man surnamed
US Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer began talks with high-ranking Chinese officials in Switzerland yesterday aiming to de-escalate a dispute that threatens to cut off trade between the world’s two biggest economies and damage the global economy. The US delegation has begun meetings in Geneva with a Chinese delegation led by Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng (何立峰), Xinhua News Agency said. Diplomats from both sides also confirmed that the talks have begun, but spoke anonymously and the exact location of the talks was not made public. Prospects for a major breakthrough appear dim, but there is
The number of births in Taiwan fell to an all-time monthly low last month, while the population declined for the 16th consecutive month, Ministry of the Interior data released on Friday showed. The number of newborns totaled 8,684, which is 704 births fewer than in March and the lowest monthly figure on record, the ministry said. That is equivalent to roughly one baby born every five minutes and an annual crude birthrate of 4.52 per 1,000 people, the ministry added. Meanwhile, 17,205 deaths were recorded, resulting in a natural population decrease of 8,521, the data showed. More people are also leaving Taiwan, with net
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