Tourists pose for a photo at Xiangshan Mountain in Taipei, southeast China's Taiwan, July 21, 2019. (Xinhua/Zhu Xiang)

 
The mainland government has rolled out a slew of measures to encourage Taiwanese to develop businesses in mainland agricultural and forestry industries, including protecting their rights to manage rural land as well as encouraging them to apply for relevant subsidies. 

Industry practitioners said that Taiwan agricultural firms would benefit from the favorable policies, especially the subsidies that will support them "directly."

According to the measures, Taiwan-invested enterprises that do business in agriculture can apply for agricultural insurance subsidies and other relevant agricultural subsidies. The government also encouraged the provision of interest-deducted loans and subsidies to Taiwan enterprises. 

The measures also clarify that Taiwan companies' rural land and woodland operation rights are protected by mainland government laws, and that Taiwan-invested agricultural firms can issue corporate credit funds.

The supportive measures were rolled out at a time when some Taiwan politicians have been claiming that the mainland punishes Taiwan farmers, after the mainland government recently suspended imports of Taiwan pineapples because inspectors repeatedly found pests in them since last year.

According to media reports, authorities in Taiwan have called on residents to support farmers by buying and eating domestic pineapples to make up for their losses caused by the ban.

A representative from a company in Fuqing in East China's Fujian Province that has worked with many Taiwan companies said that Taiwan agricultural firms have received ample support from favorable government policies, particularly various forms of subsidies such as those on agricultural machinery purchasing.

"I think the subsidy policy should be one that is most direct and beneficial for Taiwan companies. For others like corporate credit fund issuance, the threshold is too high for small-sized companies, which most Taiwan agricultural investors in the mainland are for the time being," he told the Global Times on Wednesday. 

But a manager from Fuqing Mintai Wanfeng Agricultural Co, a Taiwan-invested flower and fruit company in Fuqing, said that he felt many policies have not been implemented thoroughly enough in the mainland. "We focus all our attention on running business instead of relying on external policy support," the manager told the Global Times on Wednesday.

But both interviewees said that the mainland market offers great opportunities for Taiwan agricultural firms and has a lot of advantages. 

"For example, the climate in the mainland is more suitable for growing certain fruits such as dragon fruit. Second, the market infrastructure in the mainland is much more complete compared with Taiwan. In Guangzhou, for example, there's a large flower market that is visited by many foreigners who want to place orders. That facilitates our business, which relies a great deal on exports," the manager told the Global Times. 

The representative of the company in Fuqing also said that more Taiwan agricultural companies have been coming to the mainland in recent years, seeking business opportunities. "They are not swarming in, but they have arrived one after another," he noted. 

Global Times