More than 20,000 visitors - including government officials, entrepreneurs, businesspeople and residents – are expected to take part in the much-anticipated event, which will continue until Nov 24.

The first Pingtan-Taiwan Commodities Trade Fair opened on Nov 18, and organizers hope it will help strengthen cooperation between businesspeople on both sides of the Taiwan Straits.

The organizers said that more than 20,000 visitors - including government officials, entrepreneurs, businesspeople and residents – are expected to take part in the much-anticipated event, which will continue until Nov 24.

You Mengjun, deputy director of the management committee of the Pingtan Comprehensive Pilot Zone, said at the opening ceremony that Pingtan has been playing a leading role in cross-Straits communications in the past three years and, thanks to a series of preferential policies from the central government, the island county has become a cross-Straits logistics hub, which makes it an ideal host for this fair.

You also said that the event – which is a platform for the display of products from Taiwan and Pingtan - will undoubtedly strengthen communication between the two sides.

Tsai Shen-chia, president of the Taiwan Agricultural Tourism Development Association, said that Pingtan's efforts in the construction of a common homeland requires the participation of people on both sides of the Straits, and the trade fair is a great example of such cooperation.

Edited by Chen Zhilin and Niva Whyman