"The ministry hopes both sides will kick off official talks on the trade pact with China in mid- or late January after several rounds of informal talks," the spokesman told AFP.

"An exact timetable and venue for the formal talks will be decided by the negotiators," he said, referring to semi-official bodies handling ties in the absence of formal relations.

Taiwan's China-friendly administration hopes the negotiations will lead to a trade pact, known as the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement, which it says could lift growth and boost employment.

But the opposition Democratic Progressive Party, which favours independence from China, strongly opposes the pact, which it says would demote Taiwan to the status of a local government in future talks with the mainland.

Taiwan Premier Wu Den-yih said in a TV interview over the weekend he hopes the agreement will be signed in May or June.

He added the government will try hard to explain the merits of the agreement to the opponents and clear their concerns before it is signed.

Taiwan and China have been governed separately since the end of a civil war in 1949, but Beijing considers the island part of its territory and has vowed to get it back, by force if necessary.

Ties have improved since the island's current administration assumed power in May 2008, pursuing a programme of stepping up economic ties.

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