Local newspaper Pingtan Times collected figures on Taiwan elements in the local economy.

Pingtan is the closet place in the mainland to the Taiwan Island, only 68 sea miles to Taiwan’s Hsinchu. It was designated as an experimental zone by the Chinese mainland for cross-Straits cooperation in 2010.

The number of Taiwan-funded companies in Pingtan reached 482 as of Sept 6, accounting for 83 percent of all overseas-funded companies, with gross investment of $1.2 billion.

Pingtan has carried out many reforms concerning cross-Straits communication and cooperation. On Dec 1, 2013, it became the first place in Fujian province to launch a new business registration system, allowing investors to enter previously excluded sectors.

The Pingtan Free Trade Zone was inaugurated on April 21, with more business investment policies and simplified application procedures.

With those concrete efforts, Pingtan is becoming a place with a more vigorous business climate. Statistics shows that as of Sept 6, there were 7,761 domestic companies, 590 overseas-funded firms and 14,702 self-employed individuals in Pingtan, respectively increasing 115 percent, 213 percent and 79 percent compared with before the business registration reform.

A duty-free market that sells Taiwan-imported commodities was set up in Aoqian town in Pingtan in June, 2014, and quickly become a popular destination for local residents and tourists. The market now houses 212 stores, 150 of which have opened, with business revenues totaling 430 billion yuan.

The Taiwan Business Incubator in Pingtan has attracted 373 small and medium-sized firms and teams; and the Taiwan High-tech Industrial Park will soon be opened.

More than 1,000 Taiwan people have come to work and live in Pingtan. About 300 of them have bought properties and nearly 200 Taiwan students are studying at schools in Pingtan.