KAOHSIUNG -- Tai Kun-Tsai, the owner of a grouper cultivation company in Kaohsiung, a southern port city of Taiwan, is busy expanding his business, as he has obtained the tangible benefits brought by the cross-Strait Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA).

"The price of and demand for our groupers, as well as the profits we earned, have significantly increased since the ECFA was implemented as of Jan. 1," said Tai, who is the board chairman of the Long Diann Marine Bio-Technology Co.

The tariff on grouper selling from Taiwan to the Chinese mainland has dropped from 10.5 percent to 5 percent since Jan. 1,2011, when the ECFA went into effect, and will drop to zero from Jan. 1, 2012, said Kao Koong-lian, vice chairman of Taiwan's Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF).

Since the ECFA began, the price of grouper at production has risen from 260.1 New Taiwan dollars per kilogram in 2009 to the current 381.6 New Taiwan dollars per kilogram, up 47 percent, according to materials provided by SEF.

From January to July, Taiwan sold 4,536.6 tons of grouper to the mainland, worth 1.715 billion New Taiwan dollars, up 245 percent and 391 percent from the same period last year, thanks to the implementation of the ECFA, it said.

"Today, shipping is becoming much more convenient as well," Tai said. "It only takes 20 hours to ship Taiwan's grouper to the mainland."

"Hong Kong and the mainland are our major markets," Tai said, adding that 60 percent of the factory' s grouper is currently selling to the mainland.

Presently, eight species of grouper can be artificially cultivated. Dubbed as the "grouper king," Tai is involved in the artificial cultivation of six species of grouper.

"The consumption of grouper is increasing significantly on the mainland," Tai said.

He believes grouper is one of the most competitive agricultural products of Taiwan.

Tai disclosed that his company has invested 500 million New Taiwan dollars to expand the factory and is confident that the company's sales will reach 2 billion New Taiwan dollars in2014.

His company also sells fries of a certain species to other grouper growers.

About 200,000 people are working in Taiwan's grouper cultivation industry as well as its related industries, Tai said, adding that the ECFA benefits lots of people. Enditem (1 US dollar = 29.1 New Taiwan dollars)