BEIJING - The Chinese mainland will suspend tariff reductions on some chemicals from the Taiwan region as the latter's unilateral, discriminatory trade restrictions have violated the economic pact between the two sides.

Starting January 1, 2024, 12 items of chemical products from Taiwan, including propylene and paraxylene, will stop enjoying preferential tax rates stipulated in the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA), the Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council has said in a statement.

The commission urged Taiwan to take effective measures to remove trade restrictions against the mainland

The ECFA is a comprehensive cross-Strait economic pact intended to lower commercial barriers.

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As Taiwan's trade measures, such as bans and restrictions on mainland products, have breached the ECFA, the commission has decided to suspend the tax reductions on the aforementioned products according to the pact, the statement said.

The commission urged Taiwan to take effective measures to remove trade restrictions against the mainland.

The Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council voiced support for the commission's decision.

Since the ECFA was signed, the mainland has been facilitating and ensuring the implementation of the agreement, delivering tangible benefits to relevant enterprises and people on both sides of the Strait, especially to those in Taiwan, said Zhu Fenglian, spokeswoman for the office.

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However, in addition to discriminatory trade bans and restrictions on mainland products, Taiwan's Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) also fiddled with the rules of the ECFA and set up obstacles, obstructing normal cross-Strait economic exchanges and cooperation and the implementation of the agreement, resulting in the suspension of preferential tariffs on certain Taiwan products.

Such issues could have been properly handled via cross-Strait negotiations, but the DPP authority obstinately adhered to the separatist position of "Taiwan independence" and refused to recognize the 1992 Consensus, which damaged the political foundation for cross-Strait negotiations and made it hard to properly handle the issues, said Zhu.

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"We hope that cross-Strait relations will return to the right track of peaceful development, and that both sides can negotiate and solve the issues in cross-Strait economic and trade relations based on the 1992 Consensus," the spokeswoman said.