The booth of Lepao Toys Industrial Co, a toy maker from the Island of Taiwan, at the 4th CIIE in Shanghai on November 8, 2021 Photo: GT

Trade between Fujian Province and the island of Taiwan saw robust growth in 2021 to exceeds 100 billion yuan ($15.78 billion) for the first time, while more firms and individuals from the island also came to Fujian for growing business and job opportunities, according to the Fujian provincial government report. 

Trade rose 26.2 percent year-on-year, and 1,495 Taiwan-invested enterprises were newly established in Fujian, up 21.2 percent, the report said. 

In 2021, the development of cross-Straits ties and integrated development further strengthened, Zhao Long, acting governor of Fujian Province, said on Saturday.

To help Taiwan compatriots living on the mainland, Fujian rolled out a list of 225 policy items in January 2021 to offer same treatment in areas ranging from employment to social security and medical care, according to Zhao.

"Trade between Fujian and Taiwan will get closer and closer," Wu Jiaying, chairman of the Taiwan Businessmen's Association in Xiamen, told the Global Times on Sunday, noting that preferential tariffs under the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership will attract many Taiwan enterprises to develop in the mainland.

"For example, makers of semi-finished products in Taiwan's electronics industry and machinery industry will seek to process, assemble and re-export from the mainland, which can help them save on tariffs, compared with exporting directly from the island," he said.

"Also, the mainland has a strong consumer market, which provides a bigger market for enterprises from the island," Wu said.

Fujian governments at all levels are making great efforts to make the province the first home for Taiwan investment in the mainland, Wu said. 

"I feel that each of the 225 terms is very important and 90 percent of them have been well executed. For example, Taiwan enterprises can enjoy preferential policies in land-buying and loans, which gives us high hopes of settling and investing in Fujian," Wu said.

Under these favorable policies, a total of 40,000 young people from the island have come to Fujian for internships, jobs and entrepreneurial ventures. Also, 95 architects, cultural and creative teams from the island settled in Fujian last year and 12 provincial-level exchange bases with Taiwan were established, according to the provincial authorities.

Students from both sides of the Taiwan Straits attend a scientific festival in Fuzhou, East China's Fujian Province, on November 7, 2021, to learn about interesting scientific inventions. Photo: VCG

"We have a high market share in Fujian and we hope that there will be more favorable policies for Taiwan enterprises in the future," a person working for a Taiwan pastry brand told the Global Times.

"We are working with mainland pastry stores to test the waters in the mainland market, which is much bigger than that of Taiwan. The sales volume would be very significant in the future," she said.

In 2022, Fujian will continue to expand integrated cross-Straits development as well as economic and trade cooperation, equal treatment and people-to-people exchanges, Zhao noted.

Efforts will be made to promote collaborative innovation in science and technology between Fujian and Taiwan, accelerating the cross-Straits development of electronic information, biotechnology, and modern agriculture.