Liang Baohua (right), secretary of the Jiangsu provincial committee of the Communist Party of China, listens while Harace Lin, chairman of Taipei 101, explains the key features of the Taipei landmark and former tallest building in the world, yesterday. CNA

TAIPEI: The head of Taiwan's financial regulator will brief lawmakers on a memorandum of understanding on financial supervision with the mainland on November 16, an official said.

Lu Ting-chieh, chief secretary at the Taipei-based Financial Supervisory Commission, said by telephone yesterday Taiwan and the mainland have basically reached a consensus on the contents of the MOU. "How fast we can sign the agreement will depend on whether we need to tweak the documents after the briefing."

The accord would pave the way for cross-Straits investment in the banking, insurance and securities industries. The document is part of a broader agreement reached in April during the third round of talks between Taiwan and the mainland in Nanjing.

Ties have improved since Taiwan leader Ma Ying-jeou took office in May 2008 and dropped the pro-independence stance of his predecessor. Closer relations with the mainland, Taiwan's biggest trading partner, may help Ma speed the recovery of the export-dependent economy that shrank 7.54 percent in the second quarter.

The agreement is due to be submitted to the Executive Yuan for approval after the presentation to lawmakers, before the signing with the mainland, Lu said.

The mainland is ready to sign the document, Yang Yi, a spokesman with the Beijing-based Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, told reporters yesterday. Both sides said the time and place for the signing have yet to be determined.

"Investors are very tired of the MOU, as we have been given a blow-by-blow account," said Eric Chou, who helps manage about $1.8 billion at Jih Sun Securities Investment Trust Co in Taipei. "Unless the actual MOU surpasses our expectations, I think the market has priced in the benefits,"he suggested.

On Tuesday, a key Taiwan trade promoter said the value of Taiwan's export orders from the mainland is expected to have reached $16 billion by the end of this year.

Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) Chairman Wang Chih-kang said the mainland has organized four procurement missions to Taiwan since July this year, placing orders worth around $13 billion.

Of the four missions, three were dispatched by the Association of Economy and Trade Across the Taiwan Straits (AETATS), while the other was sent by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology in Beijing, said Wang, as he presided over a "business matching meeting" between local enterprises and their counterparts from Jiangsu province on the mainland.

The Jiangsu buyers, part of a visiting delegation led by Liang Baohua, secretary of the Communist Party of China's Jiangsu Committee, were expected to purchase an additional $3 billion-worth of Taiwanese goods.

Remarking on the close trade and economic links between Taiwan and Jiangsu, Wang noted that trade volume between the two sides rose from $3.8 billion in 2001 to $34 billion in 2008, representing a nearly 10-fold increase.

He said that many Taiwanese businesses have made successful inroads into Jiangsu and that a large part of Jiangsu's imports from Taiwan are in fact attributable to the Taiwanese enterprises operating there when they purchase parts and components, machinery equipment and other products from Taiwan.

China Daily/Agencies

(HK Edition 11/12/2009 page2)