TAIPEI - The mainland-based Association of the Economy and Trade across the Taiwan Straits (AETATS) opened an office in Taipei on Tuesday.

The office is the second of its kind to be established on the island by a mainland economic and trade association. The first was set up by the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Machinery and Electronic Products in January 2013.

Economic and trade organizations from both the mainland and Taiwan have been busy setting up offices on each other's side. The Taiwan Trade Center, the island's largest trade promotion agency, has opened shop in six mainland cities including Beijing and Shanghai since December 2012.

Taiwan Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers' Association, which has opened an office in Suzhou of Jiangsu Province, plans to open another in Dongguan in Guangdong Province.

The value of Cross-Straits trade last year reached 198.31 billion US dollars, up 0.6 percent year on year.

The mainland ran a trade deficit of 105.77 billion US dollars with Taiwan last year, with exports from the mainland to Taiwan reaching 46.28 billion US dollars while imports from Taiwan were worth more than 152 billion US dollars.