Taiwan and China Agree to Set Up Business Offices Mutually

Taipei, June 13, 2008 (CENS)--Representatives of Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) and the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) have agreed to mutually set up business offices for handling travel-related documents for visitors from both sides.

The proposal was initiated by Chen Yunlin, ARATS chairman, during the talk between the two bodies yesterday (June 12), which elicited positive response from P.K. Chiang, SEF chairman.

Such offices will save cross-Strait visitors from both sides the existing time-consuming practices of having to seek travel documents from their respective offices, in the guise of travel agencies, in Hong Kong.

In fact, the SEF already proposed to ARATS the establishment of representatives' offices on both sides mutually, which, though, obtained lukewarm response from ARATS previously.

During yesterday's talk, SEF and ARATS representatives also agreed to the establishment of branch offices of the airlines from both sides operating direct cross-Strait charter flights.

They finalized the details for the projected direct cross-Strait charter flights on weekends, with the ARATS agreeing to list Nanjing as a new port for the flights, added to the existing four ports for direct cross-Strait charter flights on holidays, including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Xiamen.

The direct cross-Strait flights are scheduled to be launched on July 4, with the number of such flights reaching 18 a week from each side. Any person with a legal travel document, including foreigners, will be able to board the flights. Representatives of SEF and ARATS also agreed to launch direct cross-Strait cargo flights within three months. They agreed to further discuss increasing the number of flights, adding new direct-flight ports, and the establishment of new flight routes, in the future.