By Li Hongmei

Taiwan-based Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said Wednesday that it will push for exchanges of visits between the heads of the MAC and its mainland counterpart, the Taiwan Affairs Office under China's State Council, and establish a regular communication mechanism.

MAC chairman Wang Yu-chi said the council will also push for follow-up talks on the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement signed in 2010, as well as improvements to the situation for the mainland students studying in Taiwan.

He also said that he currently has no plans to meet Chen Deming, head of the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits, who is scheduled to visit Taiwan in late November.

During his stay, Chen will visit science parks in Hsinchu and Taichung, as well as Taichung and Taipei harbors and export processing zones.

If a meeting with Chen does take place, Wang said he hopes that "both sides can move forward on the basis established in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum."