Huang had been slated to leave Taiwan last Monday, but a postponement of his trip was announced on the eve. At the time, China blamed the change on scheduling problems and said no new date could be determined yet.

Huang left Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport Wednesday morning without confirming the details of his mission. The Ministry of Economic Affairs, under which his bureau resorts, also refused to comment on his itinerary.

Huang reportedly said he was heading for Singapore to participate in a November 8 Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum meeting, but media speculated his early departure actually meant he was first traveling to Beijing via Hong Kong. His arrival in the Chinese capital was reported Wednesday afternoon.

Huang said he would use the APEC meetings to try and meet officials from China to discuss ECFA. His expected counterpart in the ECFA negotiations was Tang Wei, the chief of Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau affairs at China’s Ministry of Commerce.

Huang’s departure followed closely on a two-day visit to Taiwan by Zheng Lizhong, a vice chairman of China’s Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits. Zheng traveled to Ilan County for the second preparatory meeting for the next visit by his superior, ARATS Chairman Chen Yunlin.

Chen is scheduled to meet his Taiwanese counterpart, Straits Exchange Foundation Chairman P.K. Chiang, for a round of negotiations and agreements in Taichung next month. The meeting will be their fourth official encounter.

Previous rounds led to the relaxation of transportation, tourism and economic links between Taiwan and China, but Chen’s visit to Taipei in November 2008 was also marred by widespread protests.

The government of President Ma Ying-jeou is hoping the two sides can sign ECFA during the first half of next year. Ma has said the agreement is necessary to maintain the Taiwanese economy’s competitive position, but critics fear a resulting flood of cheap Chinese imports will decimate the island’s traditional economic sectors.

The Legislative Yuan’s Economic Affairs Committee approved a motion Wednesday calling on the government to prepare funds for the upgrading of businesses hit by the consequences of ECFA.

The government was seriously ill prepared, said KMT lawmaker Hsu Chung-hsiung, one of the motion’s sponsors. According to the motion, the government’s top planning body, the Council for Economic Planning and Development, should be in charge of coordinating projects with state-run funds.

Former Economics Minister Yiin Chii-ming said the rising value of the Chinese yuan could help offset the negative consequences of ECFA for Taiwan by making Chinese products more expensive. An annual rise of 4.6 percent in the value of the yuan would nullify the benefits of falling Taiwanese tariffs for Chinese products, he told a business conference in Taipei Wednesday.