Taiwan and China on Thursday concluded a day of talks in Taipei finalising the details of a controversial trade agreement that the two sides expect to sign next week.
Senior officials from Beijing and Taipei agreed on a list of industries that will benefit first from the pact, known as the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA), setting the stage for the formal signing.
"The agreement will expand the space for Taiwan's economy and promote regional economic cooperation," Chinese delegation head Zheng Lizhong told reporters after the talks.
He said the deal will lead to preferential tariffs for 539 Taiwanese product categories in areas stretching from auto parts to chemicals, while only about half as many Chinese items will be placed on the "early harvest" list.
"The two sides are one family, so we're willing to sign an unbalanced deal," Zheng said.
Taiwan's top negotiator, Chiang Pin-kung, is set to travel to China on Monday to sign the much-debated agreement the following day, according to Taiwan officials.
Taiwanese Premier Wu Den-yih said earlier Thursday he was "not totally satisfied" with the results of the talks, but nevertheless acknowledged the efforts of the negotiators.
Kao Koong-lian, the head of the Taiwanese delegation, at the start of the talks described the pact as a "very important milestone".
"We want to create an environment for peace and stability, prosperity and mutual benefit," Kao said.
Kao is secretary general of the semi-official Straits Exchange Foundation, while Zheng is vice president of the quasi-official Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits.
The two sides, which have never made formal peace since the end of a civil war in 1949, have set up the agencies to handle contacts in the absence of official ties.
Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government is promoting the pact as a means of creating growth and jobs, while the opposition argues it will actually cost employment and erode the island's de facto independence.
Zheng sought to reassure the island's sceptical public by stressing that the pact will neither affect its "vulnerable" industries nor allow China to export its labour.
Speaking later to reporters, Zheng also said Taiwan's wish to sign free-trade agreements with other economies would be handled "properly".
Supporters of the agreement have expect that China will let Taiwan sign free-trade pacts with third parties, once ECFA is a done deal.
Taiwan and China have been governed separately since the civil war ended but Beijing considers the island part of its territory and has vowed to get it back, by force if necessary.
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