Round two of ECFA talks likely to be in Taipei

According to the sources, China's Vice Minister of Commerce Jiang Zengwei is scheduled to arrive in Taipei March 25 with Tang Wei, head of the Department of Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau under China's Ministry of Commerce, who is in charge of ECFA talks with Taiwan.

Jiang and Tang will travel to southern Taiwan the following day to meet local business heavyweights, the sources said.

The duo are the top Chinese officials tasked with handling the ECFA talks and they serve as honorary president and vice president of the Association of Economy and Trade Across the Taiwan Strait (AETATS), an intermediary body set up by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, the sources said.

The top priority of the second round of ECFA talks will be discussing the list of industries to be included in the “early harvest” program for tariff concessions, the sources said.

Petrochemical, machinery, textile and display panel industries will be put on the “early harvest” list, the sources aid.

Jiang has been invited by the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA), a quasi-official trade promotion body, to attend a seminar on branding scheduled for March 26.

Jiang will be accompanied by an AETATS delegation and will lead them on visits to major channel operators and retailers, the sources said.

TAITRA Chairman Wang Chih-kang will host a dinner in honor of the Chinese delegation March 25, the sources said, adding the occasion is expected to offer an opportunity for Tang and Huang Chih-peng, director of Taiwan's Bureau of Foreign Trade and the country's chief ECFA negotiator, to exchange views on ECFA-related topics.

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