The mainland has not pressured Taiwan to lift trade barriers against imports of its farm produce nor required the island to open its labor market. The mainland agreed to allow the import of more duty-free farm produce from Taiwan and include preferential treatment for Taiwan's small business to enter the mainland market, Zheng said.

The mainland has agreed to open its market for some industries in Taiwan in commodity trade and open some of its service sectors, he said.

The two sides have agreed to reduce the trade and investment barriers under the WTO rules, based on each other's economic conditions, he said.

They also agreed to reduce the duties on some commodities, he said.

However, Zheng said, "The ECFA is only the first step for economic cooperation and will not settle all the problems that the mainland and Taiwan businesses face. More work still need to be done after the agreement is signed."

Kao Koong-lian, SEF vice chairman, heading the Taiwan delegation, said the ECFA and intellectual property protection agreement will be the most important pacts for cross-Strait economic cooperation in the future.

"The ECFA is a comprehensive and complicated pact. That's why it has taken such a long time to discuss. Now the two sides have made concrete progress," Kao said.

The ECFA is of great significance to Taiwan as it will help sharpen the competitive edge of Taiwan companies, boost exports, attract more investment and promote employment, he said.

It will also set up a systematic mechanism for cross-Strait economic cooperation, he said.

The ARATS and SEF have held three rounds of expert-level talks on the ECFA since January.