China has outlined plans to encourage businesses to expand their investments in Taiwan and has scheduled several purchasing missions to buy food and consumer products.
Top Chinese officials in charge of Taiwan affairs outlined Beijing’s policies to boost trade and investment at a forum over the weekend in Xiamen, Fujian Province.
The guidelines outlined on Sunday by Taiwan Affairs Office Director Wang Yi (王毅) urge businesses to visit Taiwan and expand their activities there.
Two purchasing groups will visit Taiwan to buy fruit, vegetables, aquatic products and processed farm products, said a copy of Wang’s speech posted yesterday on the Taiwan Affairs Office Web site.
Three other missions in coming months will focus on buying consumer goods, foods and craft products, it said.
The aim, Wang said, was to help Taiwan weather the world economic crisis.
“We are concerned about the state of Taiwan’s economy and are willing to do our best to help,” Wang said.
“With the expansion and deepening of exchanges, we will make unremitting efforts to do more good and concrete things for the people of Taiwan,” he said.
Industries encouraged to invest in Taiwan include electronics, telecommunications, biopharmaceuticals, marine transport, public works, trading companies and manufacturers of textiles, machinery, vehicles and others, he said.
Taiwanese firms, meanwhile, will be welcomed to invest in construction projects in China, and tourism from China to Taiwan will be expanded to more than 600,000 visitors a year, he said.
Wang said China would also expand the number of professional fields open to qualified Taiwanese, such as auditing, corporate legal advisers and various types of engineers, among others.
Taiwanese law firms will be allowed to open branches in Fujian Province’s Fuzhou and Xiamen, he said.
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