A Chinese central government official on Tuesday urged governments at various levels to cut red tape and local protectionism to make life easier for Taiwan investors.

Government departments and local authorities should pay more attention to the difficulties and problems that Taiwan investors encounter on the mainland and try to work out appropriate solutions, Chen Yunlin, director of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, said at a bi-monthly session of China's top legislature.

Chen said the mainland has adopted a series of measures over the years to boost investment from Taiwan and better protect the legitimate rights of Taiwan investors.

"But there are still a lot of problems to solve," said Chen.

Statistics show that mainland authorities have processed almost 11,000 complaints from Taiwan investors since 2002, many of which are the result of poor government service or inadequate policies.

Chen urged government departments to investigate the key issues faced by Taiwan investors and take measures to solve the problems.

Chen also suggested the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress amend the 1994 law on the protection of Taiwan investors at an appropriate time.

The Chinese mainland has become Taiwan's largest trade partner. In 2006, the Chinese mainland's actual use of Taiwan investment exceeded 43 billion U.S. dollars.

The indirect trade volume between the mainland and Taiwan has rocketed from 80 million U.S. dollars in 1979 to 107.8 billion U.S. dollars in 2006, according to China's Ministry of Commerce.

Source: Xinhua