Cross-Strait economic committee to convene fi rst meeting in Taiwan

Cross-Strait economic committee to convene fi rst meeting in TaiwanA cross-Strait economic cooperation committee will convene its fi rst meeting on Feb. 22 in Taoyuan， Taiwan， said the mainland’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits(ARATS) on Feb. 18.Jiang Zengwei， the ARATS special advisor， will be the mainland’s chief representative to the meeting， according to an ARATS statement.T e Chinese mainland and Taiwan announced the establishment of the committee on Jan. 6， which will handle issues related to the cross-Strait Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA).ARATS Vice President Zheng Lizhong and SEF Vice Chairman Kao Koong-lian will act as the committee’s conveners and jointly preside over the meeting， the statement said.The two sides will discuss how to design the committee’s framework and carry on the follow-up consultation of the ECFA， it said.They will also review the implementation of the early harvest program under the ECFA， the statement said.Under the program which took eff ect on Jan. 1， the mainland reduced the tariff on 539 Taiwan goods while Taiwan cut duties on 267 mainland commodities.T e two sides signed the landmark economic pact in last June to normalize cross-Strait economic ties and bring the two economies closer.T ey will continue to discuss agreements covering commodities trade， services trade and investment. (Xinhua)Turkey， China to increase religious cooperationT e Islamic Association of China ( IAC) and Turkey’s Presidency of Religious Aff airs said here on Feb. 17 they will strengthen religious cooperation to facilitate friendship and communication between the Chinese and the Turkish people.The two sides will cooperate in such areas as religious culture， education， training， publishing and organizing pilgrimages to Mecca， said IAC Director Chen Guangyuan， who is visiting Turkish capital of Ankara， after meeting Mehmet Gormez， president of Religious Aff airs of Turkey.Chen told a joint press conference with Gormez that his visit increased the mutual understanding and friendship between the two institutions and will help build closer relations in the future.“On behalf of 23 million Muslims in China， we want to deliver our regards to Turkish people， to Muslim brothers and sisters here， and hope they enjoy happiness，” said Chen.Gormez expressed gratitude for Chen’s visit， saying he expected Chinese Muslim students to come to Turkey for religious studies and training as soon as possible.“We reached consensus on cooperation in many areas... the visit opened a new page for our religious cooperation，”Gormez told reporters. “Better religious cooperation will help eliminate some misunderstandings about China’s religious situation. China has made a lot of progress in the aspect of religious freedom.” (Xinhua)Singapore， China witness strong bilateral trade growthBilateral economic relations between Singapore and China are strong， and as the world continues to recover from the global economic crisis， the bilateral trade has risen more than 25 percent to S$ 95.3 billion ($74.5 billion) in 2010， Singapore minister for trade and industry Lim Hng Kiang said on February.China is currently Singapore’s third largest trading partner， second largest source of tourist arrivals and top investment destination.Delivering a speech at a Chinese New Year reception， Lim said “l(fā)ooking ahead， we expect both the China-Singapore Free Trade Agreement and the ASEAN-China Free Trade Agreement to continue to spur even stronger economic cooperation in this region.”Despite the recent global economic downturn， China remains one of the world’s fastest growing economies. Its GDP grew 8.7 percent in 2009. Last month， China announced GDP growth of 10.3 percent for 2010.“Many Singapore firms are well aware of China’s immense potential as the world’s largest consumer market. Over the years， many have made inroads into the Chinese market. Our early investments were mainly in the coastal cities， such as those in Jiangsu， Shandong and Guangdong. Since then， other Western and Central China regions have emerged as new growth areas and Singapore is strengthening our economic engagement in these regions too，” he said.The Singapore Chamber of Commerce Industry(SingCham) and the Singapore Business Federation (SBF) are important conduits for Singapore businesses seeking to operate in China. SingCham， for example， helps to promote and develop a cohesive group of Singapore communities based in China and helps them stay connected to Singapore， Lim said at the reception hosted by SingCham and SBF.“As China’s development gathers pace， new opportunities will continue to emerge. I look forward to seeing more Singapore companies tap on organizations such as SingCham and SBF to venture further into the Chinese markets，” he said. (Xinhua)