Zhangzhou will also provide space for companies in Xiamen to meet their needs in locating new production sites. The companies are mainly involved in industries such as biological medicines and new-energy vehicles.

In 2015, the provincial government approved a plan to build the Xiamen-Quanzhou economic cooperation zone, to benefit both cities' industrial development.

To date, a total of 24 companies have invested about 2.5 billion yuan in the zone, which is expected to produce an annual output value of 7.5 billion yuan, providing about 10,000 job opportunities.

The economic return of the zone will be shared equally by Xiamen and Quanzhou.

Other cities of Fujian also set up cross-region cooperation programs in ecological protection, tourism and other sectors.

Su Dehui, general manager of the Youxi branch of China Youth International Travel Agency in Sanming city, said the annual growth rate of tourist numbers his company received reached about 50 percent on average in recent years.

The western Fujian city of Sanming is known for its fresh air and rich tourism resources, but it has not achieved the fame of other tourism-oriented cities due to a lack of marketing channels, high-end tourism products and support from related industries.

In February 2016, the city established a tourism association to serve the tourism industry in its four counties.

The counties' major attractions welcomed 2.95 million tourists last year, reaping 128 million yuan in ticket revenue, up 18.2 percent and 15.9 percent year-on-year respectively.

Sanming signed an agreement with the neighboring city of Nanping to hold joint promotional events in Xi'an, Wuhan, Guangzhou and Hong Kong last year. Many orders were signed during the events.