Taiwan students participating in a summer camp visit Taiwan Huiguan in Beijing, a historical site of the resident office of Taiwan province in the capital of the country during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). The 20th Youth Summer Camp organized by the All-China Federation of Taiwan Compatriots started in Beijing on July 4, 2023, attracting about 1,000 participants from Taiwan, with about 35 percent of them first-time visitors to the Chinese mainland. Photo: Li Hao/GT

The State Council, China's cabinet, released a new document on Tuesday that outlines supporting measures to develop East China's Fujian Province into the first home for Taiwan compatriots and enterprises in the Chinese mainland. 

One of the highlights include the scrapping of temporary residence registration for Taiwan compatriots living in Fujian, encouraging them to purchase property in Fujian, and seeking to include Taiwan compatriots into the local social insurance systems so as to improve the institutional guarantees for them in terms of employment, medical treatment, housing and elderly care services.

The document comes at a time when the Taiwan authorities continue to trumpet separatist rhetoric and act as a US puppet to achieve the US strategy of containing the mainland, which is ruining the development of the island and undermines peace and stability across the Taiwan Straits, observers specializing in the Taiwan question told the Global Times. Amid a complex cross-Straits situation, they noted that the document is equivalent to outlining the future development blueprint of Taiwan island, which is expected to gain a broader driving force and development prospects by integrating with Fujian, a place that shares a similar culture and customs with the island. 

The document highlights in the beginning that resolving the Taiwan question and achieving the complete reunification of the motherland is the unswerving historical task of the Communist Party of China, the common aspiration of all the sons and daughters of the Chinese nation, and an inevitable requirement for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

The documents said it supports the basic completion of a demonstration zone for integrated development across the Taiwan Straits, and aims for personnel exchanges between Fujian and Taiwan to become more convenient, trade and investment to become smoother, and exchanges and cooperation to expand to a wider and deeper level. 

Throughout six provisions, the document outlines concrete measures to build Fujian into the first home for Taiwan compatriots, the economic integration of Taiwan and Fujian, as well as the provincial integration development with the island, cultural exchanges and institutional guarantees.

The document said it will further facilitate the traffic routes for Taiwan residents to travel to the mainland by increasing passenger and freight routes between Fujian and the island. Students coming from Taiwan to kindergartens and schools in Fujian will be treated the same as locals. Universities and companies in Fujian are encouraged to recruit more students and employees from Taiwan. Doctors from Taiwan can work in Fujian in accordance with local requirements, the document wrote.

 In the cultural field, the document especially mentioned the launch of a pilot program that will allow companies from the island to invest and set up radio and television program production and management companies in Fujian. More cooperation in the production of fine film and television works is encouraged. 

During a time when the Taiwan authorities continue to push the island into a dangerous situation by acting as a puppet of the US, the measures issued by the State Council offers prospects for residents in Taiwan. Relying on resources in Fujian, residents from the island are able to live, work, invest and develop their career in the mainland, Li Fei, a professor at the Taiwan Research Center at Xiamen University, told the Global Times.

As mentioned in the document, the two sides of the Taiwan Straits are expected to achieve integrated development in almost every field, largely transcending the added value brought by the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) on promoting the normalization, institutionalization and liberalization of cross-Straits economic relations, Song Zhongping, a TV commentator knowledgeable about the Taiwan question, told the Global Times.

The vision pictured in the document is like a future development blueprint for Taiwan island, Song noted. He explained that challenged by international bottlenecks, Taiwan will have more international opportunities, broader development prospects only by integrating with the mainland. 

Chinese observers noted that the all-round integration and development of the Taiwan Straits means Taiwan compatriots and Taiwan enterprises can widely benefit from the development of the Chinese mainland to achieve self-development and realize the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. 

On economic integration, the document mentioned it supports the Gulei petrochemical industry base and the Ningde power battery cluster to build industrial bases and advanced manufacturing clusters that gather resources and elements of both sides with global competitiveness.

The document also clarifies the promotion of comprehensive integration and development in Fujian. Specifically, Kinmen residents will enjoy the same treatment as local residents in Xiamen. 

The Fuzhou-Matsu industrial cooperation park will be established to attract Taiwan compatriots and enterprises to participate in the development of Fuzhou's digital economy, while the connection of water, electricity, gas, and bridges between Fuzhou and Matsu will also be promoted. The Pingtan Comprehensive Experimental Zone will also expand its opening to cross-border service trade with Taiwan and build more convenient communication channels across the Taiwan Straits.

The document also states the deepening of social and cultural exchanges between Fujian and Taiwan. Eligible Taiwan civil organizations are encouraged to establish offices in Fujian, and Taiwan religious groups and other individuals will be welcomed to come to Fujian for short-term cultural and educational exchanges.