Two non-governmental economic and trade organizations on both sides of the Taiwan Straits - Taiwan Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers' Association and the Chinese mainland's Association of Economy and Trade across Taiwan Straits - are expected to set up offices on each other's side, negotiators from the Chinese mainland and Taiwan said on Dec 9.

It is the second time for economic and trade agencies across the Straits to set up branch offices on each other's side, following the Taiwan Trade Center which established four offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Qingdao, and the Chinese mainland's China Chamber of Commerce of Machinery and Electronic Products, which opened an office in Taipei.

Gao Yan, the Chinese mainland's chief representative to the cross-Straits Economic Cooperation Committee (ECC), and Cho Shih-chao, Taiwan's chief representative, jointly made the announcement at a press conference after the fifth ECC regular meeting, which was recently held in Taipei.

Cho said both sides will prepare the paperwork and authorities will complete the approval process, and the two offices should be operational during the first half of 2014.

The Chinese mainland and Taiwan have mainly carried out cooperation in the fields of LED illumination, wireless cities, cold chain logistics, TFT-LCD, automotive industry and textiles - and the two sides aim to build a new platform for e-commerce.

Xinhua contributed to this story

Edited by Chen Zhilin and Niva Whyman