Taiwan and China will step up discussions on the signing of an economic cooperation framework agreement (ECFA), a local official involved in the negotiations said Monday as the two countries prepared for formal talks on other economic issues set to begin Tuesday. An ECFA will not necessarily be signed during the next round of talks, but both sides are willing to intensively discuss the proposed trade pact in the near future, Kao Koong-lian, vice chairman and secretary-general of the Straits Exchange Foundation, told the Central News Agency following a meeting earlier in the day with his Chinese counterpart Zheng Lizhong. The SEF and Zheng's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) are quasi-official organizations designated by the governments of Taiwan and China, respectively, to handle cross-strait communications in the absence of official contacts between the two sides. The trade pact and intellectual property rights will be the main issues on the agenda for the fifth round of negotiations, he confirmed, but while the two sides will hold intensive discussions, the signing of the ECFA will happen when the time is ripe. From both theoretical and practical perspectives, the trade pact is likely to provide greater benefit to a smaller economy, Kao said in defending the controversial proposal. 'It is quite clear which side of the Taiwan Strait is smaller, ' he said. Nevertheless, critics, including Taiwan's opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), believe that the pact would allow in a flood of cheap Chinese products, cause job losses and jeopardize the island's sovereignty. 