国内英语新闻:Substantial progress made in cross-Strait economic pact talks

XIAMEN, June 20 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese mainland and Taiwan have come closer to signing a comprehensive economic pact as "substantial progress" has been made in negotiations, the mainland's chief Taiwan affairs official said on Sunday.

Speaking at a centerpiece conference of the week-long Straits Forum held in the southeastern city of Xiamen, Director of the State Council's Taiwan Affairs Office, Wang Yi, said the progress in talks on the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) is a result of joint endeavors and shall be honored by both sides.

The two sides discussed the main contents of the pact and items of the goods and services to be included in the "early harvest program" at the third round of expert-level talks in Beijing last week.

The Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) and Taiwan's Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) represented both sides during the negotiations. Two previous talks were held in Beijing and Taipei earlier this year.

The ECFA is intended to normalize mainland-Taiwan economic ties and bring the two economies closer, the pact's initiators said. Its "early harvest program" will cover certain industries to first benefit from tariff reductions.