Beijing, China, January 28, 2010 — Experts from the Chinese mainland and Taiwan held their first talks in Beijing Tuesday, January 26, 2010, to pave the way for the long-awaited Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA).
According to a statement released after the meeting, experts from both sides agreed that the basic content of the pact would include market access for commodity trade and service trade, Rules of Origin, early harvest program, trade remedy, dispute settlement, investment and economic cooperation. The two sides also exchanged tax regulations and economic and trade regulations and statistics.
Lehman, Lee & Xu, one of the top three Chinese law firms, many of whose clients are engaged in businesses related to enterprises of both sides of the Taiwan Strait, showed strong interest in this event.
“The economic pact might exert certain negative influences on a number of industries on the mainland and in Taiwan”, commented Edward Lehman, Managing Director of Lehman, Lee & Xu Law Firm, “but it would benefit cross-Straits trade and economic development in the long run” he added.
“As the ECFA will cut import tariffs and scrap Taipei’s current restrictions on many mainland investments and products, some industries in Taiwan may face strong competition from products imported from the mainland in the short term and vice versa,” said John Lee, Senior lawyer of Lehman, Lee & Xu. However, he further commented “from the world point of view, the ECFA would play an important role in helping mainland and Taiwan jointly cope with the financial crisis and fierce competitions in international trade”.
“We have a number of clients who are engaged in cross-Straits businesses and the expected Agreement will surly have strong effects, both negative and positive, on them,” said Scott Garner, Head of Lehman, Lee & Xu’s Shanghai office, “We will therefore keep a close watch on the progress of the cross-Straits talks and provide our clients with timely legal advice for their business activities, helping them to make good use of any positive effect of the pact and try to keep away from negative ones” he added.
Lehman, Lee & Xu is one of the first five private law firms established in the People’s Republic of China. After nearly twenty years of practice and development, Lehman, Lee & Xu now has more than two hundred patent, trademark and PRC-licensed attorneys working in numerous branch offices located in the most-developed cities in China. As one of the leading IP firms in China, Lehman, Lee & Xu provides high quality legal service to its clients and has been consistently rated among the top five IP law firms in China. Lehman, Lee & Xu is also a top-three commercial law firm, and has provided a variety of commercial legal services to hundreds of clients, many of them multinational corporations (MNCs) and Fortune 100 companies. The firm’s diverse catalog of commercial services covers foreign direct investment (FDI), merger and acquisition (M&A), tax, employment and many other areas.
For more information about Lehman, Lee & Xu, please visit the firm’s website at www.lehmanlaw.com .