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SHANGHAI : Taiwan's incoming top negotiator with China arrived in Shanghai on Thursday amid hopes of improved trade and political ties between the traditional rivals.
Chiang Pin-kun met Taiwanese business leaders based here on the first leg of a five-day trip, his office said.
"Taiwan should not only discuss free-trade agreements with Southeast Asian countries, but will eventually do the same with the mainland," Chiang said in a speech to Taiwanese business people in Shanghai.
"That will ensure Taiwan-made goods are not at a disadvantage anywhere," he said.
Prior to leaving Taiwan, Chiang, appointed by president-elect Ma Ying-jeou to head the quasi-official Straits Exchange Foundation, played down the visit.
"This trip is to thank Taiwanese business people for their support (of Ma). It is very simple... I will also brief them on prospects of future cross-strait developments," he told reporters in Taipei.
Ma, of the China-friendly Kuomintang, trounced Frank Hsieh of the governing pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party in last month's presidential vote. He will formally take office next month.
The Straits Exchange Foundation is in charge of Taiwan's civilian exchanges with the mainland in the absence of official contacts between Taipei and Beijing.
Observers see the trip as a sign of better relations between China and Taiwan, which split in 1949 at the end of a civil war.
Ma has vowed to launch weekend direct flights, expand yuan convertibility and bring in more mainland tourists by July, and Taiwanese media said Chiang was likely to touch on these issues while visiting China.
A task force has been established to prepare for direct flights, Chiang said in Shanghai.
Taiwan has banned direct trade and transport exchanges with the mainland since 1949, while visits to the island by Chinese tourists are severely restricted. - AFP/de
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