Cross-Strait CEO Summit opens new opportunities for Taiwan businesses to delve in mainland’s vast market potential

Taiwan businesses flocked to the 2024 annual conference of the Cross-Strait CEO Summit held in Xiamen, East China's Fujian Province, from Monday to Tuesday, eager to embrace the new opportunities that the Chinese mainland offers to Taiwan and beyond.

Several business representatives shared their excitement about participating in the two-day event with the Global Times on Tuesday, expressing their anticipation of further exploring the vast business potential in the mainland market amid the ongoing industrial transformation and upgrade in the region.

Themed on cross-Strait industrial chains, this year's summit gathered more than 700 people from mainland and Taiwan business circles, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

Daniel Lin, a vice president of the Association of Taiwan Investment Enterprises on the Mainland, who is also a director of a Shenzhen-based biomedicine company, has participated in the annual summit four times. He the Global Times that he appreciated the important opportunities that such events offer to businesses from Taiwan.

"The company I work for specializes in blood cancer screening, and I believe the biggest takeaway from this summit is gaining a clearer understanding of market access in the mainland, particularly regarding the medical certification process and the relevant points of contact," Lin said.

The summit also provided an opportunity to engage with other biotech industry peers in the mainland, discussing potential collaboration opportunities that could drive future market development in the region, Lin said.

The summit also organized visits to local photovoltaic companies in Xiamen, where Lin saw the cooperation opportunities offered by the new-energy sector under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

"The mainland market is vast and continually evolving, with frequent updates... We can see that many entrepreneurs from Taiwan should be more actively involved in this new market transformation to seize more development opportunities," Lin noted.

The summit for entrepreneurs from both sides of the Taiwan Straits, established in 2013, is one of the most important platforms for cross-Straits people-to-people exchanges and cooperation, Xinhua reported. The event has actively promoted cross-Straits economic and trade exchanges, as well as industrial integration and development, the report said.

Lai Cheng-i, honorary chairman of the General Chamber of Commerce of Taiwan island, who has participated in the summit several times, told the Global Times on Tuesday that the annual summit not only allows businesses from both sides of the Taiwan Straits to better understand each other, but also provides a platform for people from the Taiwan region to gain deeper insights into the mainland market.

"The summit enables companies from the island to tap into such a vast market and environment in the mainland, while also accelerating their understanding of global trends," Lai said, noting that this platform is crucial for Taiwan businesses as an information exchange and important platform for integrating into the broader market.

"Taiwan businesses should make more use of cross-Straits exchanges to drive overall development, which would also greatly benefit economic growth in the Taiwan region," Lai noted.

Chinese modernization, coupled with the creation of new quality productive forces driven by innovation, along with the BRI and dual circulation, will provide new opportunities and future development space for Taiwan enterprises, Lee Cheng-hung, president of the Association of Taiwan Investment Enterprises on the Mainland, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

The words of the Taiwan business representatives did not come out of the blue. Despite the global economic downturn, the trade ties between the mainland and Taiwan have shown positive growth, driven by demand. According to the latest data released by China's General Administration of Customs on Tuesday, in the first 11 months of this year, bilateral trade between the mainland and Taiwan increased by 9 percent year-on-year, reaching $266.22 billion. Both imports and exports experienced positive growth.

The economic development of the mainland is in a period of transformation, which includes upgrading technologies and industries, and "for Taiwan enterprises, this presents both challenges and opportunities," Tang Yonghong, a professor at the Taiwan Research Institute of Xiamen University, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

"We have consistently called for Taiwan businesses to keep pace with the times, make necessary adjustments, and collaborate with mainland and foreign enterprises to explore both the domestic market and international markets," Tang said.

This year's summit came against the backdrop of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities going against the mainland out of their own selfish interests and obstructing and undermining cross-Straits exchanges, cooperation, and integrated development, as Tang noted.

"The facts have repeatedly proven that market principles cannot be defied," Tang said, urging the DPP authorities to face the positive effects of cross-Straits economic cooperation, and stop hindering economic integration across the Straits for the benefit of the people of the region and beyond.