Cross-Straits cooperation urged

Top political adviser calls on enterprises on both sides to grasp development trend

China's top political adviser Wang Yang called on entrepreneurs on both sides of the Taiwan Straits to grasp opportunities as the mainland strives to promote cross-Straits development and strengthen China's economy.

Wang, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, made the call in a letter of congratulations on the annual conference of the Cross-Straits Entrepreneurs Summit on Wednesday in Xiamen, Fujian province.

Economic cooperation is the foundation for the development of cross-Straits relations and serves the common interests of compatriots on both sides, he said, adding that despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the growth of trade between the two sides in the first 10 months of this year fully reflects the strong driving force, great potential and strong resilience of cross-Straits economic cooperation.

Wang said as the central leadership has drawn up a blueprint for economic and social development during the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) period and put forward the long-range goal of achieving socialist modernization by 2035, it will surely bring great opportunities and benefits to Taiwan's enterprises and compatriots.

He called on entrepreneurs on both sides to grasp the trend of development and work to expand cross-Straits economic cooperation so that the interests of compatriots on both sides will be better served.

Themed around opportunities under new situations, this year's conference gathered more than 700 cross-Straits entrepreneurs, heads of industrial and business groups and experts to pool ideas for exchange and cooperation on venues in Xiamen and Taipei. They were linked by video due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Liu Jieyi, head of the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, said the mainland is the only major economy in the world that has achieved a positive economic growth this year and played a strong role in boosting the economy of the island, bringing about $128 billion of trade surplus for it. Without the driving force by the development of the mainland, Taiwan's economy will not be able to maintain its positive growth this year, he added.

Vincent Siew, president of the Taiwan-based council of the summit, said that the strategies of innovation-driven development and the new "dual-circulation" development paradigm set in the mainland's development blueprint will provide more impetus for industries on both sides to upgrade technologies and integrate development.

He said that efforts should be made to help Taiwan business owners participate in the mainland's new infrastructure construction such as 5G and big data and expand the mainland market.

At a sub forum of the summit on Tuesday, the Cross-Straits Financial Industry Cooperation Alliance, consisting of 10 licensed financial institutions in Fujian with connections to Taiwan businesses, was launched to provide better loan services for Taiwan businesses on the mainland.

Wu Chia-ying, president of the Taiwan Businessmen Association in Xiamen, said that Taiwan businesses need more capital to expand production on the mainland, and some faced financial problems due to the pandemic, but it used to be very difficult for them to get loans on the mainland.

The alliance will be conducive to helping small and medium-sized Taiwan enterprises on the mainland get loans from banks smoothly so they can seek better development opportunities on the mainland, he said.

Guo Ningning, vice-governor of Fujian, said that the province, where there are many Taiwan-funded enterprises, will explore the establishment of a credit information sharing mechanism between the two sides and encourage Taiwan business owner associations on the mainland to set up credit guarantee institutions for lenders catering to Taiwan businesses.