Taiwan agricultural professionals urged to seize opportunities on mainland

With supportive policies and the promise of high-standard agricultural infrastructure, agricultural professionals in Taiwan should seize the opportunity to come to the mainland to start their businesses, guests at a cross-Strait agricultural exchange conference said.

The second cross-Strait agricultural exchange conference and the 14th cherry blossom cultural tourism festival of Zhangping city kicked off in Zhangping, Fujian province in mid-February.

The event witnessed the signing of 81 cross-Strait cooperation projects, amounting to a total investment of 10.49 billion yuan ($1.44 billion), which primarily focus on the cultivation of premium agricultural products, agricultural product processing, and the integration of primary, secondary, and tertiary industries in Taiwan.

Li Xuewen, an entrepreneur from Taipei, Taiwan, shared his story of running an agricultural business for more than a decade at the conference. In 2019, Li's company signed a rural revitalization strategic cooperation agreement with the government of Maqiao town in Minhang district, Shanghai.

"The Maqiao government placed great trust in us, entrusting us with 70 to 80 percent of the town's agricultural land, which is approximately 2,694 mu (about 180 hectares)," Li said.

His company pioneered digital agriculture in Maqiao and empowered rice planting with scientific, mechanized, and unmanned techniques.

"As a young person from Taiwan, I hope to contribute the strength of our generation to rural revitalization and the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation," he said.

In March 2021, the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, and the National Forestry and Grassland Administration, introduced a series of measures to support the development of Taiwan compatriots and enterprises in the mainland's agriculture and forestry sectors.

These measures aim to ensure the well-being and equal treatment of compatriots and enterprises from Taiwan, fostering their participation in the high-quality development of agriculture and forestry and rural revitalization.

Chuang Chiuyi, executive vice president of the Association of Taiwan Investment Enterprises on the Mainland and chairman of the association's agriculture working committee said, "No matter where you go on the mainland, the rural landscapes and village appearances have undergone tremendous changes compared to a decade or so ago."

"Over the past decade, a growing number of young Taiwan people have been drawn to agriculture on the mainland, thanks to favorable pilot policies in Fujian. Nowadays, the high-standard farmland enables compatriots from Taiwan to start their businesses without the need for initial land reclamation," Chuang added.

"The mainland has a stable economic foundation, numerous advantages, strong resilience, and great potential," Ma Xiaoguang, deputy head of the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Strait, said when addressing the conference.

"We hope that businessmen and enterprises from Taiwan remain confident, seize opportunities, work diligently, and take root in the mainland, progressing and developing together with the mainland," Ma said.

Xu Nuo contributed to this story.