The Chinese mainland on Wednesday pledged to export corn to Taiwan to relieve the feed shortage being experienced by the island's pig farmers.

"We will push the supply of mainland corn to Taiwan to help solve the difficulties facing the pig raising industry and pig farmers in Taiwan," said Li Weiyi, spokesman for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council.

He said some organizations in Taiwan had expressed the wish to import feed from the mainland and called on Taiwan authorities to loosen their import restrictions.

Relevant authorities in Taiwan have reportedly announced a plan to allow the import of mainland corn in phases from December 2006 to February 2007.

Li confirmed that the pig farming associations of Taiwan were in negotiations with mainland organizations on the import of corn.

"We hope that, through the consultations, mainland corn will be exported to Taiwan regularly and normally," said Li.

Taiwan needs 4 million to 5 million tons of corn feed every year. It used to import corn from the United States, but supply is drying up as more corn is being pumped to biofuel factories.

Source: Xinhua