Cross-Straits trade relations point to a prosperous future

• Source: Global Times
• [21:17 August 16 2009]
• Comments

PD: Let’s turn to the Taiwan Trade Fair. So what is to be traded exactly?

Chen: The Taiwan Trade Fair means to introduce the top 10 categories of good products in Taiwan to the mainland.

Today, the manufacturing industry throughout the mainland is witnessing very rapid development, and we are not short of products in many fields. So the products Taiwan is going to introduce should be those with a competitive edge, otherwise it will not be easy for them to enter the mainland market.

The 10 categories include the three-C products (communication, computer and consumer electronics), household articles, agricultural products (groceries like fruits and flowers), as well as original cultural products and sports leisure goods; all together there are more than 30,000 types of products.

PD: How many booths have already been filled?

Chen: The number is 1,860. These 1,860 booths have actually been taken by over 620 Taiwanese enterprises, 73 percent of which are local enterprises in Taiwan, and the rest, 27 percent, are mainland businesses with Taiwanese investment. This shows that the current development in the mainland is very attractive for Taiwan businessmen. The mainland is a huge and still growing market, and we feel the Taiwanese urgently need this.

PD: There will definitely be more and more economic cooperation between Nanjing and Taiwan, so what do you think should be the focus of the local government?

Chen: A city is very much like a carrier. The holding of various activities and fairs will bring both popularity and wealth to the city. As a result, the service industries in the city will expand. With the holding of these activities, our service industries will benefit, as there will be ever greater consumption and demand. In this sense, an economic structure led by the service economy will be formed.

PD: As Taiwanese businessmen are invited the trade fair, do you also have plans to go out to Taiwan?

Chen: Of course we do. Since last year, we have organized many business group trips to Taiwan. Today Cross- Straits relations have greatly improved, but we will still have to wait some time before we can invest on a large-scale in Taiwan.

However, we’re headed in the right direction, and prospects are promising. Future cooperation will probably be carried out more from a cultural perspective.

We share a common cultural origin, and Taiwan has inherited many good Chinese traditions, as well as absorbing several excellent elements of Western culture.

This cultural integration has contributed to progress in technology and management, leading to some differences in industrial competitiveness. Therefore, I think there will be more cultural exchanges in the future.