The Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council is working with banks and local governments to help mainland-based Taiwan firms survive the financial crisis, its spokeswoman Fan Liqing said yesterday.

The 130-billion-yuan ($18.8 billion) support package that was promised at the 4th cross-Straits Economics and Trade Culture Forum in December is "on its way", she said.

Between December and January, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China extended more than 4 billion yuan in credit to 500 Taiwan firms on the mainland, she said.

Also, two symposiums will be held in Suzhou, Jiangsu province, and Dongguan, Guangdong province, on Friday and Saturday, to let banks introduce details of their financial support for Taiwan firms, Fan said.

The regional governments of Fujian, Guangdong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Chongqing have also set out policies, mainly concerning financial support, to encourage technological innovation and company renovation, she said.

In Fujian, the Xiamen government has promised 30-50 percent subsidies on loans to small- and medium-sized Taiwan firms, and allocated 10 million yuan to set up a Risk Compensation Fund for SMEs.

Fuzhou will support firms that are considered to have good prospects with its a technological innovation fund.

An official surnamed Weng from the Fuzhou Taiwan Businessmen Association said: "With financial support from the local government, I'm pretty optimistic about the future of Taiwan companies in Fuzhou."

More than 1,000 Taiwan companies in Fuzhou are struggling, and some have gone bankrupt, he said.

"What we want most is financial support, especially in terms of taxes and loans," he said.

He said he hoped the measures are not just "a flash in the pan" but could become long-term policies.

On Tuesday, Fu Dong-cheng, vice-chairman of the Mainland Affairs Council in Taiwan, told reporters Taiwan and the mainland will work together to set up Taiwan bank and brokerage branches in China, but that the two sides will not establish a free trade pact in the first half of this year.

Fan said a comprehensive economic cooperation mechanism will benefit both sides and details will be discussed later this year.

She also said the government has approved a plan for a visit to Taiwan by 10,000 marketing staff from Amway Corp China, which will be the biggest ever tourist group from the mainland.

Companies from Taiwan are also encouraged to take part in the mainland's rural home appliance subsidy program, she said. The program, launched on Feb 1, is designed to boost consumer spending in rural areas.

By Xie Yu and Han Bingbin