Taiwan sends delegation to China to prepare for new summit

Taipei - Taiwan Wednesday sent a delegation to Fuzhou in southern China for preparatory talks to pave the way for a cross-strait summit planned later this month, officials said. Maa Shaw-chang, deputy secretary general of the Straits Exchange Foundation, said the Taiwan delegation would negotiate with its Chinese counterparts from the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait to set the stage for the signing of four economic agreements later this month.

Taiwan and China - which only resumed formal talks last year - are scheduled to hold their fourth round of talks in Taiwan's Taichung city on December 21-22.

The delegation leaders, who represent their respective governments in the absence of formal relations, are to sign agreements on certification of industrial standards, inspection of agricultural products, avoidance of double taxation and fishery cooperation.

Taiwan and China, rivals since they split at the end of a civil war in 1949, began to mend fences last year after Beijing-friendly President Ma Ying-jeou took office.

The two sides held a historic first-round summit in Beijing in June, followed by two other rounds of talks.