Taiwan's embattled President Ma Ying-jeou said Wednesday he would push for legislation to guarantee transparency over controversial trade pacts with China that triggered mass rallies last year.

But critics said the plan was too weak and would ease the way for further deals.

The government's proposal is a concession to student-led protesters after their unprecedented three-week occupation of parliament in March last year, as fears over Chinese influence on the island grow.

The protests were sparked by trade pacts which demonstrators said had been signed in secret -- they were subsequently put on hold pending the oversight bill.

"We'll actively push for the passage by parliament of the bill to oversee the agreements with the mainland, as well as several (trade) agreements already signed," said Ma in a speech to mark the end of his seventh year in office.

He added that the new legislation and agreements would ensure "peace and prosperity" in cross-Strait ties.

However the main opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) slammed the proposed plan.

"We definitely cannot accept the draft bill proposed by the cabinet, which lacks the spirit of supervision demanded by the protesters," DPP spokesman Cheng Yun-peng told AFP.

"If approved, it would be tantamount to a blank cheque for the government's future agreements."

The opposition Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) pledged to block the current version of the bill if the government tried to vote it through.

"Passing such a version would run counter to the demand of the people who joined the Sunflower movement last year," TSU spokeswoman Chou Mei-li told AFP, referring to the name given to the rallies.

The government has given no timescale for the final bill to be put before parliament.

In his speech Ma also defended the KMT's China-friendly policy, despite it playing a major part in the party's heavy defeat at local elections in November -- seen as a barometer for the 2016 presidential vote.

"The peace across the Taiwan Straits in the last seven years was hard won. It should be treasured and carefully kept," he said.

China considers self-ruled Taiwan a part of its territory awaiting reunification -- by force if necessary. They split in 1949 at the end of a civil war.

Tensions have reduced markedly and 21 agreements between the two former bitter rivals have been signed since Ma came to power in 2008.

But public sentiment in Taiwan has recently once again turned against closer ties with Beijing, with voters saying trade deals have been agreed in secret and not benefited ordinary citizens.