cross-strait Economic Cooperation Committee focusing emerging industries

Second ECC to talk industrial exchanges

By Jason Tan  /  Staff Reporter  Minister of Economic Affairs Shih Yen-shiang (施顏祥) said yesterday the second meeting of the cross-strait Economic Cooperation Committee (ECC) would focus on industrial cooperation that concerns both Taiwan and China the most. He said that these areas would not stray from Taiwan's six emerging industries and four intelligent industries, or from the seven new strategic industries under China's 12th five-year economic plan. Taiwan's six new emerging industries are biotechnology, tourism, green energy, medical care, high-end agriculture and cultural creativity, while the four intelligent sectors are intelligent vehicles, cloud computing, intelligent green architecture and patent development. For China's seven strategic emerging industries, they are new-generation information technology, energy saving and environment protection, alternative energy, biotechnology, high-end equipment manufacturing, advanced -materials and alternative-fuel cars. China is set to boost policy support and planning guidance to promote research and development in key technologies and develop these strategic sectors into pillar industries to improve industry core competitiveness and economic efficiency. The first meeting of the ECC, a body set up under the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA), was launched in February. The second meeting may take place in August.