The Taipei World Trade Center, Taiwan's leading trade promotion agency, will open an office in Beijing on Dec. 27, according to Wang Chih-Kang, the center's president.

The office will be the center's second office on the mainland following the Taiwan Trade Center Shanghai Representative Office, which opened on Tuesday.

The Shanghai office provides services to both Taiwanese businessmen and mainland companies in Shanghai, Zhejiang province and the city of Kunshan in Jiangsu province.

The offices are intended to help Taiwanese businessmen better tap the Chinese mainland market, invite mainland businessmen to visit and invest in Taiwan and boost collaboration between the service industries of both sides.

According to Wang, the Taipei World Trade Center also plans to open representative offices in the cities of Qingdao, Dalian, Guangzhou and Chengdu.

Meanwhile, the mainland-based China Chamber of Commerce for the Import & Export of Machinery & Electronic Products is expected to open a representative office in Taipei soon.