Fujian, Taiwan connections to strengthen through the event, Hu Meidong and Hao Nan report.

The seventh Straits Forum opened on June 13 in Xiamen in East China's Fujian province, with a focus on "expanding civilian exchanges, boosting cross-Straits cooperation and promoting common development".

The week-long event, which is organized by 76 governmental agencies and industrial associations, includes 17 activities with themes relating to the Fujian Free Trade Zone, the nation's Belt and Road Initiative, ecological civilization and folk festivals.

Many people from Fujian and Taiwan share the same ancestral roots so the event aims to increase visits between them and deepen communication and cooperation in education, healthcare, science and sports.

The forum also highlights communications between young people across the Taiwan Straits, which was first put in the spotlight at the sixth Straits Forum last year.

In 2014, the forum included three parallel seminars related to the young people of Taiwan and the mainland. It considered them core to the future of cross-Straits relations.

Many Taiwan students who participated in the event hoped to work or start businesses in the mainland after graduation when they saw the local economic development and commercial environment for themselves.

Grassroots exchanges is a key phrase for this year's Straits Forum, according to Chen Ling, an official of the event's organizing committee. The forum gathers not only officials and leaders but also ordinary people by hosting folk and religious activities such as temple fairs, a Mazu Culture Week and a Buddhist Culture Week.

As an important part of the ongoing Straits Forum, Mazu Cultural Week is welcomed by people from both Fujian and Taiwan.

The week focuses on worship of Mazu, a goddess representing "cherishing peace, helping the needy, advocating universal love and unselfish giving", said a spokesperson for the State Council's Taiwan Affairs Office.

Since 2009, the Straits Forum has been held six times. Some activities have crossed the Straits to be held both in Xiamen and Taiwan to further enhance the interconnections between the two sides.

Although the past six forums have shared the same theme of strengthening cooperation and promoting communication, each session has had different highlights.

"The Straits Forum has various activities in each session to create new platforms and opportunities," said Liao Fengbin, an executive of a Taiwan media company, who participated in all six events.

After the second session, Liao organized 20 to 30 media representatives from Taiwan to visit the forum.

"I recommended they experience the three words about the mainland - 'large, many and long'," Liao said.

The mainland is vast and has a large population, rich materials and resources and a long history, he added.

Liao said he has now added the word "new" to his description of the mainland. Last year, he toured Haicang district in Xiamen and said he was impressed by its advanced combination of technology and humanity.

Liao said he hopes more Taiwan people, especially the younger generations, visit the mainland.

Growing exchanges

Since 2009, more than 100 policies and measures have been released during the Straits Forums to promote exchanges and cooperation between the mainland and Taiwan.

In 2009, the first forum announced eight policies to promote investment from the mainland to Taiwan and to allow more Taiwan products to enter mainland markets.

During the 2010 forum, polices were released to encourage transformation and upgrading of Taiwan-funded companies in the mainland, simplify their examination and approval procedures and help them deal with financing problems.

Support from the mainland also included incentives for importing Taiwan's agricultural products, as well as incentives in the fields of tourism, employment, skill certification and healthcare services.

In 2011, the third forum announced measures relating to individual tours, aviation, entry-exit management and construction of the Pingtan Free Trade Port.

Pingtan county in Fuzhou is the nearest place to the island of Taiwan in the mainland.

As the first pilot zone for cross-Straits cooperation, Pingtan would play a big role in cross-Straits integration, taking advantage of many preferential policies, experts said. It would provide new opportunities for Taiwan companies to expand business in the mainland with a free trade port, they added.

In 2012, the fourth forum announced eight new measures, covering the employment of Taiwan people in the mainland, more convenience for mutual visits and the promotion of cross-Straits educational and technological cooperation.

In 2013, the fifth forum launched 31 policies and measures.

In 2014, the sixth forum continued to promote and implement a batch of measures exploring new areas of cross-Straits cooperation. In the same year, Dongshan Island in Fujian and Taiwan islands of Kinmen and Penghu signed trade and economic cooperation agreements to build themselves into a Taiwan Straits Golden Triangle area.

Figures show that in 2014, trade volume between Fujian and Taiwan hit $12.4 billion. About $1.2 billion worth of investment from Taiwan was used in Fujian, an 11 percent growth from a year previously. Ten of Taiwan's Top 100 enterprises expanded their operations in Fujian and about 2.6 million people traveled between Fujian and Taiwan using air and sea routes.

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(China Daily 06/15/2015 page12)