Chen Deming.[File photo]

Former Commerce Minister Chen Deming was elected chairman of the mainland-based Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) on Friday.

"Deepening economic cooperation remains a priority for cross-Strait negotiations at the current stage," the mainland's new top negotiator said at the first meeting of the new ARATS council.

The ARATS' counterpart in Taiwan, the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), elected Lin Join-sane as its head in September, replacing Chiang Pin-kung.

Economic development on both sides of the Taiwan Strait faces a number of challenges, which makes it more urgent to promote the normalization of cross-Strait economic ties and further trade liberalization, said Chen.

Chen said efforts will be made to start the new round of cross-Strait talks in the first half of this year and sign an agreement on the services trade.

He said he hopes to finish negotiations on the goods trade and a dispute settlement mechanism within this year.

The ARATS will also strive to accelerate follow-up talks on the back of the signing of the landmark Cross-Strait Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) in 2010, which has greatly boosted cross-Strait ties in an all-around way, according to Chen.

Chen said he appreciates Taiwanese authorities' stance that cross-Strait ties are not ties between two countries, thus the representative offices of the SEF and the ARATS to be established on each side are not diplomatic missions.

The ARATS also hopes to strengthen communications with the SEF on handling important affairs, he said.

He also said the ARATS encourages discussions of political issues among academics and relevant personnels from the two sides.

Founded in 1990 and 1991, respectively, the SEF and the ARATS are the non-governmental organizations authorized by Taiwan and the mainland to engage in cross-Strait talks.

Chen served as Minister of Commerce from December 2007 to March 2013.

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