Taiwan to further ease restrictions on mainland investment

Taiwan's leader Ma Ying-jeou on Wednesday said the island will further ease restrictions in order to attract investment from the Chinese mainland.

At a gathering of Taiwanese business leaders and entrepreneurs, Ma pledged to actively negotiate follow-up issues with the mainland regarding the 2010 Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA).

He said he hopes to finalize a cross-strait service trade agreement with the mainland as soon as possible and ensure that trade negotiations are productive.

Also in an effort to attract mainland investment, Taiwan economic authorities held a meeting here on Monday for mainland enterprises operating in Taiwan.

Representatives from six Taiwan cities including Taipei, New Taipei City, Tai Chung, Kaohsiung, Tainan, Taoyuan met with mainland business representatives, hoping to attract their investments in Taiwan's infrastructure construction.

By the end of Jan. this year, Taiwan had approved a total of 351 investment projects from the mainland, with a total investment volume of about 507 million U.S. dollars.