The Cross-Strait Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement: Deliberation on Economic, Political and Legal Aspects

• Author: Zhichao Chen
• Position: Ph.D. Candidate (Expected in July 2011) in International Economic Law at Xiamen University. LL.B./LL.M. (Extinction, Xiamen)
• Pages: 153-172

REGIONAL FOCUS & CONTROVERSIES

The Cross-Strait Economic

Cooperation Framework

Agreement: Deliberation on

Economic, Political and

Legal Aspects

Zhichao Chen



After careful deliberation and through rounds of talks, the Chinese mainland and

Taiwan signed the Cross-Straits Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement in

2010. This agreement is viewed by many across the straits and around the world as

an agreement with great implications not only for economic issues, but also for

political interactions between the two sides. Moreover, as the two sides of the ECFA

are WTO members, legally, the relevant rules concerning free-trade agreement under

of the WTO regime are applicable to the ECFA. This article will give a brief analysis

on the economic, political and legal aspects of the ECFA.

Keywords

ECFA, Cross-Strait Economic Cooperation, Early Harvest Planning, WTO

Framework

KFBJM2)3122* Dijob 153

* Ph.D. Candidate (Expected in July 2011) in International Economic Law at Xiamen University. LL.B./LL.M.

(Extinction, Xiamen). Visiting Ph.D. Student at Utrecht University from March 1 to May 30, 2010; World Champion

of Dillard Competition with teammates, the 47th Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition,

Washington D.C., March 2006. This article is a part of researches under a Major Project funded by the Chinese

Social Sciences Funds - Research on Legal Regimes to Promote and Protect Chinese Overseas Investments(No.

09&ZD032) co-chaired by Prof. Zeng Huaqun and Prof. Yu Jinsong. He is grateful to Prof. Zeng Huaqun and Prof.

Cai Congyan for their helpful comments. The author may be contacted at: mr.chenzhichao@gmail.com/ Address:

International Economic Law Institute, Xiamen University, Xiamen City, Fujian Province, 361005, P.R.China.

1. Introduction

On June 29, 2010, Mr. Chen Yunlin, Chairman of the mainlands Association for

Relations across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) and Mr. Chiang Pin-kung, Chairman of

the Taiwan-based Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) signed the Cross-Straits

Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA). The ECFA is an agreement

which aims at institutionalizing economic cooperation across the Taiwan Strait. As a

critical legal measure to the future interaction across the straight, it would facilitate and

regularize economic cooperation and trade exchanges between two sides.

The idea of a cross-Strait economic pact dates back to April 2005 when Hu Jintao,

general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, and

Lien Chan, then chairman of the Kuomintang (KMT) Party in Taiwan, jointly issued

the common aspiration and prospects for cross-Strait peace and development

1

in

Beijing. In this document, the two parties proposed to jointly promote all-round

economic exchanges between the mainland and Taiwan and establish a cross-Strait

economic cooperation mechanism. It was confirmed that the consensus will be built into

the KMTs policy as a keynote of Premier Ma Ying-jeous regional leader campaign.

On December 31, 2008, Hu Jintao delivered a speech at a meeting in commemoration

of the 30th anniversary of the Message to Compatriots in Taiwan.

2

He put a clear

position in this speech that the mainland and Taiwan could sign a comprehensive

economic cooperation agreementand build a unique mechanism to achieve mutual

benefit. Not surprisingly, this proposal was well received by Ma Ying-jeou. Since to a

large extent, our success in the [regional leader] election can be attributed to our partys

policy in handling the cross-straight relations, its quite natural that we will stick to our

words,said Mr. Chiang Pin-kungin in an interview by Caijing Magazine.

3

After

several rounds of talks, negotiators were finally able to ink the deal in Chongqing,

154 [/Difo

1As a legal mechanism, the Cross-Straits Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) has at three

antecedents: the creation of the Cross-Strait Common Market Foundation in 2000 by the current vice regional leader

of Taiwan, Vincent Siew; the formal accession of the two side across the strait to the WTO in 2001; and the signing

of Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) by the mainland with Hong Kong and Macau, respectively.

See generally

Terry Cooke,

Cross-Strait Matrix: the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement

, 9 C

HINA

B

RIEF

7

(2009),

available at

http://www.jamestown.org/single/?no_cache=1&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=35041&tx_

ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=7&cHash=f0b872132a (last visited on Jan. 6, 2011).

2Hu Jintao, Chinese President, Address at the ceremony commemorating the 30th anniversary of the announcement

of Message to Compatriots in Taiwan (available only in Chinese),

available at

http://news.xinhuanet.com/

newscenter/2008-12/31/content_10586495.htm (last visited on Jan.18, 2011).

3Hu Caiping,

Jiang Bingkun: ECFA Taiqian Muhou

[Chiang Pin-Kung Talks as an Insider on the ECFA Negotiation]

(available only in Chinese), CAIJING, July, 5, 2010,

available at

http://magazine.caijing.com.cn/templates/inc/

chargecontent2.jsp?id=110473226&time=2010-07-05&cl=106&page=1 (last visited on Jan. 28, 2011).