Cross-Straits co-op forum to open in Taiwan

BEIJING - The second cross-Straits industrial cooperation forum will be held in November in a bid to boost communication and strengthen common goals.

On Wednesday, Yang Yi, spokesman for the State Council's Taiwan Affairs Office, said at a regular press conference that the event will be held on Nov 21 and 22 in Hsinchu, Taiwan.

The forum will focus on breakthroughs and innovation of industrial cooperation across the Straits. It will aim to achieve a win-win situation for both sides, Yang said.

More than 200 experts and scholars across the Taiwan Straits are expected to attend the forum.

"We hope that the forum will boost communication, build consensus, and further deepen industrial cooperation across the Straits," Yang added.

Since 2011, the mainland and Taiwan have decided to hold annual industrial forum to fully implement the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA), a wide-ranging cross-Straits economic pact signed in 2010.

The first cross-Straits industrial forum was held last year in Kunshan in the mainland's east Jiangsu province.

Also at the press conference, Yang said the two sides have made joint efforts in constructing two submarine optical cables.

One of the cables, from Xiamen to Taiwan's Kinmen county, was put into use in August, and the other, from Fuzhou to Tamsui in northern Taiwan, is at pre-construction stage.

The cables will benefit people from both sides in telecommunications and network data transmissions, Yang added.