Shanghai, Feb. 18 (CNA) An informal Taiwan trade center in Shanghai will be the first in China to be formally designated as a Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) office, starting from early April, an official with the center said Saturday.

TAITRA, a trade promotion organization sponsored by the government, currently has mostly one-man centers in China to promote trade, but they have yet to be designated as TAITRA offices, and TAITRA's Shanghai office will be the first from China or Taiwan toestablish a formal office on the other side, the official said.

TAITRA Chairman Wang Chih-kang will attend the opening ceremony of the Shanghai office while in the city to take part in the 2012 Taiwan Trade Fair from April 5 to April 8, the official said.

The trade center in Shanghai will be the first of six centers in China to be given official TAITRA status. The new office will add one Taiwanese staffer and two people from Shanghai, the official said.

The moves come after Economics Minister Shih Yen-shiang unveiled on Jan. 31 a plan to upgrade six out of 10 trade centers in China into TAITRA offices, with others to be expanded including those in Wuhan, Beijing, and Guangzhou.

The centers are being given more formal billing and expanded in support of TAITRA's plans to add services for Taiwanese businesses in China, including providing better trade promotion support and collecting more information on the local market and customs.

Taiwan at present has fewer trade offices in China than South Korea or Japan, and its offices are understaffed compared with those of its regional rivals, who have at least 30 employees per office, said TAITRA officials on Jan. 31.

Shih said on Jan. 17 that as cross-strait relations improve, Chinese trade organizations, such as the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) or Association of Economy and Trade Across Taiwan Straits (AETATS), could also set up offices in Taiwan. (By Cheng Chung-sheng, Lin Shu-yuan, Chen Hung-chin and C.J. Lin)