The heads of the two main negotiating bodies of the Chinese mainland and Taiwan at their first ever summit in Taipei on Tuesday signed agreements on direct shipping and flights, mail services and food safety.

The mainland's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) president, Chen Yunlin, and the Taiwan-based Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) chairman, Chiang Pin-kung, also discussed an increase in the number of mainland tourists to Taiwan, joint efforts to deal with the global financial crisis, and expanding the economic exchanges.

The ARATS and the SEF agreed to open direct shipping services and set up direct air routes across the Taiwan Straits. They also agreed to start chartered cargo flights, increase the destinations and frequency of chartered flights, and expand their services from weekend to weekdays.

Direct flights between Taipei and Beijing would only take two hours, and between Taipei and Shanghai about 80 minutes.

Under the agreements, direct mail services, including letter and parcel deliveries, express mail and postal remittances, will be available across the straits, while other postal services will also be strengthened.

Both sides will provide each other with food safety updates and food trade information, and establish a mechanism to deal with major food safety incidents.

"With the four agreements, direct transport and mail services that compatriots on both sides have been longing for over the past 30 years have become a reality, and will provide more convenient channels for cross-Straits economic exchanges," said Chen.

Chen said the ARATS and the SEF would focus on discussions about cross-Straits financial collaboration in the next stage of talks, while expanding cultural and social exchanges would also be on the agenda.

He said the mainland was considering a plan to allow residents across the mainland to travel to Taiwan.

Since July 20, only residents in the municipalities of Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai and Chongqing, and the provinces of Liaoning, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Fujian, Shandong, Hubei, Guangdong, Yunnan and Shaanxi have been allowed to visit Taiwan in groups, under an agreement between the mainland and Taiwan concerned authorities.

Chen said tourism companies on both sides suggested that the tourist groups traveling to Taiwan should be composed of a minimum of five people, while the current rule was at least 10.

He said the ARATS agreed with the suggestion, and hoped that with more chartered flights on weekdays, the number of mainland tourists to Taiwan would increase.

Chen said the mainland would send two giant pandas as gifts to Taiwan by the end of the year. The other gift would be nyssaceae seed, an endangered flowering plant that grows in Sichuan Province. He hoped that they would be sown in Taiwan soil.

On behalf of the ARATS, Chen is to accept two rare animals from Taiwan. One is an indigenous goat with the scientific name of naemorhedus swinhoei, the other is a spotted deer.

Chen said he would carry the affection of the Taiwan people back to the mainland.

(Xinhua News Agency November 4, 2008)