Beijing has proposed turning Fujian province into a zone for joint development with Taiwan.
China will take a number of “special” policy measures to improve access for Taiwanese businesses to Fujian province across the Taiwan Strait, China’s state planner announced, under a long -term cross-strait integrated development plan.
China will deepen the integrated development of the Chinese city of Xiamen and Taiwan-controlled Kinmen islands, including the acceleration of gas, electricity and transport links between the two, said Cong Liang, vice chairman of the National Development and Reform Commission, last Thursday.
The moves are part of a plan announced by China on Tuesday to turn the coastal province of Fujian into a zone for joint development with Taiwan, which China claims as part of its territory.
Taiwan strongly rejects China’s sovereignty claims.
China has long offered Taiwan a choice between two paths – peace and prosperity or war and decline. China’s air force again entered Taiwan’s air defense zone on Thursday in what the democratically-ruled island said amounted to regular harassment.
China supports the idea of allowing Kinmen, which lies next to Xiamen despite being controlled by Taiwan across the strait, to access Xiamen’s new airport, Cong said at a news conference.
He added that Beijing also supports new energy cooperation between Taiwan, which it considers a Chinese province, and Ningde, a Fujian city north of Xiamen.
The opening of an experimental development zone in Pingtan, China’s closest point to the main island of Taiwan across the strait, will be facilitated, added Cong.
China also intends to build a cross-strait high-speed railway “at an early date”, he said.
Shares of some Fujian companies gained on Thursday, against a relatively flat broader market.
Strait Innovation Internet and Zhongfu Straits Pingtan Development Co, both based in Pingtan, rose 8 percent and 5 percent, respectively.
