KMT Press Release

 

 

  The 19 Recommendations Made at the 9th Cross-Strait Forum

 

KMT Culture and Communications Committee

October 27, 2013

 

The 9th Cross-Strait Economic, Trade and Cultural Forum was held October 26-27 in Nanning (南寧), Guangxi on the Mainland. KMT Honorary Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung (吳伯雄) and Yu Zhengsheng (俞正聲), a member of the Politburo Standing Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP),  delivered speeches at the forum. More than 350 delegates, including representatives from the KMT, the CCP and various fields attended the forum.  

 

The theme of the forum this year was “Expanding Cross-Strait Exchanges and Cooperation, Jointly Reviving the Chinese Nation.” During the forum, participants from both sides of the Strait had thorough discussions and exchanged views on the following three main issues, i.e., cross-Strait business & technology cooperation, strengthening cross-Strait cooperation in cultural industries and strengthening cross-Strait exchanges and cooperation in education.   

 

The forum concluded that given the current circumstances, both sides of the Strait should continue to expand exchanges and cooperation in various fields, including economics, technology, culture and education, in order to enhance the well-being of the people on both sides of the Strait. Following is the 19 recommendations made at the meeting. 

 

1. Both sides of the Strait should work together to push for the follow-up consultations on the cross-Strait Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) in an active manner and to push for the implementation of the cross-Strait Services Trade Agreement (STA) as soon as possible and push for the normalization, institutionalization and liberalization of cross-Strait economic relations.

2. Both sides of the Strait should encourage and expand cooperation between Taiwan’s Pilot Free Trade Zone (台灣自由經濟示範區) and the Mainland’s Western Taiwan Straits Economic Zone (海峽西岸經濟區), the Fujian Pingtan Comprehensive Experimental Zone (福建平潭綜合實驗區), the Kunshan Experimental Zone(昆山深化兩岸產業合作試驗區) and the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone (上海自由貿易試驗區).       

3. Both sides of the Strait should work together in order to meet the challenges and take advantage of the opportunities in the face of the precarious international environment, and to strengthen cooperation on the basis of a close cross-Strait economic relationship in order to enhance the cross-Strait economy and its competitiveness on the global stage.   

4. Both sides of the Strait should strengthen cross-Strait industrial cooperation. 

5. Both sides of the Strait should strengthen the cooperation between enterprises across the Strait. 

6. Both sides of the Strait should deepen cooperation between financial institutions across the Strait, perfect mechanisms for cooperation on financial supervision and currency settlement, further open financial markets to each other and work together to maintain the stabilization of cross-Strait financial markets. 

7. Both sides of the Strait should strengthen cooperation in agriculture. 

8. Both sides of the Strait should strengthen cross-Strait technological exchanges, and study the possibility of a cross-Strait agreement on technological exchanges and cooperation as soon as possible.  

9. Both sides of the Strait should work together to strengthen the platform for technological exchanges across the Strait in order to create better conditions for cross-Strait cooperation in technology.  

10. Both sides of the Strait should work to strengthen the use and exploration of alternative/renewable energies and cooperation on environmental protection technology/biotechnology in order to enhance the international competitiveness of relevant cross-Strait industries. 

11. Both sides of the Strait should perfect the cooperation mechanism on cross-Strait tourism exchanges, expand the scale of exchanges on cross-Strait tourism, and increase the quality of tourism services in order to create a better tourism environment.   

12. Both sides of the Strait should continue to push for the implementation of the Cross-strait Cooperation Agreement on Medicine and Public Health and strengthen drug safety management and research.    

13. Both sides of the Strait should continue to push for the institutionalization of cultural cooperation across the Strait. 

14. Both sides of the Strait should deepen cooperation in cultural industries and expand exchanges between talents from cultural industries across the Strait. 

15. Both sides of the Strait should push for cooperation and exchanges in television broadcasting, and expand cooperation channels for radio/TV programs across the Strait.  

16. Both sides of the Strait should strengthen cooperation in publications and establish a cooperation mechanism for exchanges in publications across the Strait. 

17. Both sides of the Strait should work together to improve standards on education exchanges across the Strait, study the possibility of entering into talks on a agreement on cross-Strait education exchanges, and push for the mutual recognition of diplomas across the Strait on a wider basis. 

18. Both sides of the Strait should jointly promote traditional Chinese culture. 

19. Both sides of the Strait should encourage exchanges of innovative ideas between youths across the Strait and starting new businesses, and establish an exchange platform for youths across the Strait in that regard.