Taiwan negotiators head to mainland for talks

TAIPEI - A Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) delegation headed by chairman Lin Join-sane left Taipei for East China's Shanghai municipality on Thursday to attend the ninth round of cross-Straits talks.

On Friday, Lin will hold talks with Chen Deming, president of the mainland-based Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS).

During the talks, the two sides will review the implementation of 18 agreements, sign the cross-Strait service trade agreement and exchange views on the agenda for future talks, Lin said prior to his departure from Taoyuan International Airport.

The talks are the first of their kind since the two sides' newly-elected leaders took office. They also mark the ninth round of talks between the two sides since the SEF and ARATS resumed talks in June 2008 after a nine-year suspension.