BEIJING -- The mainland's Taiwan affairs chief has promised to create more benefits and opportunities for Taiwanese in 2013.
Wang Yi, head of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council and the Taiwan Work Office of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, made the remarks in a speech published in the latest edition of government-run magazine Relations Across the Taiwan Straits.
Wang expressed greetings to Taiwanese for the upcoming Chinese Lunar New Year holiday.
Wang said 2012 was a year of progress, with cross-strait relations maintaining peaceful development.
Cross-strait relations have entered a new phase of consolidation and deepening, Wang said.
In August, Chinese mainland and Taiwanese negotiators signed cross-strait agreements on investment protection and customs cooperation, a key move in maintaining follow-up negotiations following the landmark cross-strait Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) that was signed in 2010.
The ECFA's early harvest program, which is intended to open the capital market and reduce taxes, has been fully implemented and created tangible benefits for both sides, according to Wang.
On Jan. 25, the People's Bank of China and the Bank of China's Taipei branch signed a yuan-clearing agreement, paving the way for banks across the strait to conduct yuan-based settlements through direct clearing, Wang said.
Wang, who was appointed the mainland's Taiwan affairs chief in 2008, said the 18th CPC National Congress held last November has set guiding principles and basic requirements for handling Taiwan affairs in the future.
In the new year, Wang said he expects both sides to "deepen their perceptions" regarding the protection of the "one-China" framework, as well as properly develop cross-strait relations based on the 1992 Consensus and the opposition of "Taiwan independence."
Wang said he hopes negotiators from the mainland-based Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits and its Taiwanese counterpart, the Straits Exchange Foundation, will make new progress in negotiations.
The two negotiating bodies are expected to reach arrangements on establishing separate offices on both sides, as well as sign a cross-strait service trade agreement and conclude discussions on an agreement regarding the trade of goods, Wang said.
Wang said he also expects expanded trade investment, financial cooperation and communication.
"I sincerely expect compatriots on both sides to unite together to advance the peaceful development of cross-strait relations and the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation," Wang said.
