China and Taiwan in landmark deal

Taiwan and China signed a series of landmark agreements on Sunday laying the groundwork for a flood of financial services investment to flow across the Taiwan Strait for the first time in six decades.

The agreements mark the latest sign of warming ties between the former Cold War adversaries under the year-old administration of Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou, who ran for office promising to improve the economy through closer ties with the mainland.

The centrepiece of the latest round of cross-strait negotiations, the third since Ma took office, is an agreement setting up a regulatory framework for financial services firms on both sides of the Taiwan Strait to invest and do business in each others' markets, according to a statement issued by Taiwan's negotiator, the semi-official Straits Exchange Foundation.

The two sides also agreed to gradually establish a clearing system between the Taiwan dollar and China's currency, the Yuan, and to set up scheduled flights across the Taiwan Strait, replacing the current system of chartered flights.

(Reporting by Lin Miao-jung and Doug Young; Editing by Bill Tarrant)