Mainland negotiators back from Taiwan trip

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-12-25 18:55

BEIJING: Chinese mainland negotiators returned to Beijing on Friday after ending their Taiwan trip during which three trade agreements were signed at the new round of cross-Strait talks.

Headed by Chen Yunlin, president of the mainland's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS), the delegation took a charter flight and arrived in Beijing Capital International Airport at about 4 pm Friday.

Wang Yi, director of the Taiwan Work Office of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, met Chen at the airport, along with several other officials.

ARATS and Taiwan's Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), both authorized to handle cross-Strait issues, held talks on Tuesday in Taichung and signed three agreements on farm produce quarantine, cooperation in standards measuring, inspection and certification, and on cross-Strait employment of fishermen.

It was the fourth round of talks between the ARATS and the SEF since they resumed negotiations in June last year after a 10-year suspension.

In the previous three rounds of talks, the two sides reached nine agreements concerning transport, trade, tourism, cooperation in finance and fighting crime among other issues.