President Barack Obama and Chinese President Hu Jintao emerged from hours of intense talks Tuesday determined to marshal their combined clout on crucial issues, but still showing divisions over economic, security and human rights issues that have long bedeviled the two powers.

The upcoming meeting between the chief negotiators of Taiwan and China will herald the beginning of formal negotiations on a cross-Taiwan Strait economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA) , Minister of Economic Affairs Shih Yen-shiang said Tuesday.

Lien Chan, Taiwan's representative at the 2009 Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit meeting, was non-committal Tuesday on when a meeting between Taiwan and China's leaders could take place, suggesting it would be better for cross-strait political dialogue to take place over an extended period of time.

China's largest retail chain is expected to buy NT$1.25 billion worth of agricultural products from Taiwan through the end of 2010, the single largest such purchase made by a Chinese entity in Taiwan, the Council of Agriculture (COA) said Tuesday.

The memorandum of understanding (MOU) on cooperation in financial supervision across the Taiwan Strait was officially signed yesterday, a move likely to enhance the development and cooperation between the financial sectors in Taiwan and China.

Wang Zaixi, vice president of the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS), said yesterday that the cross-strait Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) would be inked in 2010, and that mainland China is quite glad to see the signing of the reciprocal pact.

U.S. President Barack Obama on Monday hailed improvements in relations between China and Taiwan, saying there was no need to change Washington's “one-China” policy.

Plans to raise the water level behind China's massive Three Gorges dam to full capacity this month — which would mark the symbolic culmination of the decades-old project — have stalled amid a worsening drought and reports of increased landslide risks.

As President Barack Obama visits China seeking to balance a seesawing relationship, Chinese-Americans embody the challenges facing the giants of East and West.

A major Chinese logistic group yesterday signed an agreement to purchase NT$1.25 billion worth of Taiwan agricultural products yesterday, making it the largest purchase of its kind ever.