Visitors browse products showcased by Taiwan compatriots at the Sixth 21st Century Maritime Silk Road Exposition and the 25th Cross-Straits Fair for Economy and Trade in Fuzhou, East China's Fujian Province on May 22, 2023. Photo: VCG

More and more young people from the Taiwan island have been flocking to the Chinese mainland to start businesses or seek jobs, as the mainland offers greater opportunities thanks to its solid economic development and support measures, Taiwan entrepreneurs said on Tuesday.

At the Cross-Straits CEO Summit, which kicked off in Nanjing, East China's Jiangsu Province on Tuesday, many young entrepreneurs from Taiwan shared their success stories in the mainland and expressed confidence in the mainland market.

"Attending this year's summit as a young entrepreneur from Taiwan, I hope to be able to share my experience and stories and make more friends and get more business opportunities," Hsu Tao, COO of Beijing Baocase Tech, told the Global Times on the sidelines of the Cross-Straits CEO Summit on Tuesday.

Hsu, a 30-year-old resident of Taipei who started Baocase in Beijing's tech hub of Zhongguancun in 2017, also said that he hopes to share his success story on the mainland with friends in Taiwan. "Coming to the mainland to do business is the right choice," he said.

Before he came to Beijing, Hsu had planned to go to Silicon Valley in the US, but after hearing about the favorable business environment in Zhongguancun, he decided to come to Beijing and registered Baocase Tech, an online platform that helps companies find short-term workers. The company has received several rounds of funding and now has more than 1 million registered users.

Many Taiwan entrepreneurs have similar mainland success stories as Hsu.

Chang Yuwei, general manager of Nanjing Grind-Tec Precision, a maker of machine tools, said that the company has been very successful over the past 23 years, with revenue growing from zero to 200 million yuan ($27.44 million).

"I think there is a huge advantage in the mainland market. Since 2000, our company's business has continued to double due to the large scale of the mainland market," Chang, who came to the mainland relatively early, told the Global Times on Tuesday in Nanjing. "I am very confident about the development potential here."

In addition to the vast market, concrete policy measures that mainland authorities have taken to support Taiwan entrepreneurs to find work or start businesses on the mainland also helped immensely, Taiwan entrepreneurs said.

"What we have gained is an opportunity for high-speed development. Such opportunities may not be available in other places outside the mainland, because there may not necessarily be such obvious policy directions," Hsu said.

Mainland authorities have taken moves to support Taiwan businesses, including young entrepreneurs from Taiwan. In September, mainland authorities issued a plan for setting up a demonstration zone for the integrated development of the Taiwan Straits in Fujian, which includes support measures, including building platforms to support employment and entrepreneurship of youth across the Taiwan Straits.

Zhu Fenglian, spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, said in September that the mainland continues to create better conditions and provides more platforms for Taiwan youth to come to the mainland to study, work, start businesses and live.

From 2012 to 2022, the number of Taiwan business investment projects in the mainland increased from 88,000 to 129,700, with the cumulative actual use of Taiwan capital rising from $57.05 billion to $72 billion, according to the Ministry of Commerce.