Mainland, Taiwan sign landmark economic pact
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The committee will also serve as the authority to deal with ECFA-related disputes until the two sides reach a separate agreement on dispute settlement.
Negotiation for the dispute settlement agreement will start within six months of the ECFA taking effect.
Also on Tuesday, a separate agreement on intellectual property rights protection (IPR) was signed by the ARATS and the SEF.
According to the IPR agreement, the Chinese mainland and Taiwan will increase exchange and cooperation to boost protection of patents, trademarks, copyright and plant variety rights (PVR).
After the SEF and the ARATS achieved the two agreements, scholars from both sides of the Strait expressed a positive view on the future development of the cross-Straits relationship.
"Service trade directly benefits common residents living on both sides", said Andy Chang, professor in the graduate institute of China studies at Taiwan-based Tamkang University.
Also, high-quality service industries would provide more choices for the mainland population and the ECFA will also promote cross-Straits investments from manufacturing industries to the high value-added service industries, Chang said.
Further, the ECFA would not only be a mutually beneficial platform for the mainland and Taiwan, but also a channel for both sides to better connect to other economies in the Asia-Pacific region, he added.
Although profits from some industries on both sides will be affected, many more industries will benefit, said Guo Li, associate professor with Huaqiao University based in southeast Fujian Province.
The ECFA will also provide an opportunity for those affected industries to speed up their industrial upgrading and find new market orientations, which will also help Taiwan improve its industrial structure, Guo said.
Some mainland and Taiwan businesspeople interviewed by Xinhua said they were happy about the signing of the ECFA since they saw "tangible" benefits and profits from the agreement.
"The ECFA will bring small enterprises closer to our Taiwan partners and make our cooperation more efficient," said Weng Rangui, who runs a large teashop at Maliandao Tea Market in downtown Beijing where he sells tea products traded with Taiwan partners.
"We will be able to share more profits with a larger market," Weng said.
Chen Zong-min, a businessman in Taiwan's fishing industry, shared a similar view with Weng.
"ECFA will promote a more convenient investment method for small and medium-sized enterprises on both sides, which on the long run will be good news for us," Chen said.
It is estimated that about 260,000 new jobs will be created in Taiwan by the ECFA's early harvest program, which will benefit at least 23,000 small and medium-sized enterprises in the island.
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