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written by | dong xin

kuomintang vice chairman xia liyan "landed" again, this time in chongqing.

according to chongqing daily, the 16th "chongqing taiwan week" was held in chongqing from september 9 to 13. xia liyan attended and delivered a speech.

"chongqing taiwan week" began in 2009. according to china news service, this taiwan week is the first major cross-strait comprehensive exchange event in the western region co-hosted by the taiwan affairs office of the state council and local governments after the third plenary session of the 20th cpc central committee.

two key pieces of information are worth noting.

since the beginning of this year, xia liyan has frequently traveled between the two sides of the taiwan strait, including visiting chongqing twice.

in february, he led a delegation on a "new year's greetings, care and exchange" trip, visiting cities where taiwanese live, such as xiamen, guangzhou, nanchang, hangzhou, kunshan, and shanghai.

in march, he led a delegation to the mainland to meet with taiwanese businessmen, visiting cities such as chongqing, chengdu, jinan, and qingdao.

in april, he went to shaoxing, zhejiang to attend the 2024 public memorial ceremony at dayu's mausoleum, and held discussions with taiwanese businessmen and compatriots from all over the country.

in august, he led a delegation to attend the "19th jiangxi-taiwan economic, trade and cultural cooperation and exchange conference (gan-taiwan conference)" held in lushan, jiangxi.

in september, he attended the "9th guizhou-taiwan economic and trade exchange and cooperation conference (guizhou-taiwan conference)" held in guiyang, guizhou; and attended the 16th "chongqing-taiwan week" in chongqing.

"chongqing has a unique position in the historical and political relations between the two sides of the taiwan strait and will certainly play a significant role," said xia liyan in his speech at the taiwan week event.

chongqing is one of the main destinations for taiwanese investment in western china. taiwan is also chongqing's fourth largest trading partner after the united states, south korea and hong kong, china.

as of june 2024, chongqing has approved a total of 2,205 taiwan-funded enterprises, 225 of which have an investment of more than us$10 million, with a total contracted taiwan investment of us$32.362 billion.

in terms of youth exchanges, the number of taiwanese students in chongqing ranks first in the western region. nine universities in chongqing have signed inter-school cooperation and exchange agreements with 45 universities in taiwan, and so far, nearly 1,500 taiwanese youth have come to chongqing to study, visit, or conduct research.

xia liyan said at the "chongqing-taiwan week" that chongqing is connected to the silk road economic belt in the north and the 21st century maritime silk road in the south. taiwanese businessmen operating here are able to build well-known companies with international competitiveness; taiwanese youth studying and working here can cultivate a broad vision for insight into world affairs.

"what chongqing provides is a stage and opportunity for the two sides of the taiwan strait to work together for development," he said.

economic and trade exchanges have always been the focus of xia liyan's many trips to the mainland.

this year marks the 10th anniversary of the proposal of “cross-strait integration and development”.

deepening cross-strait integration and development is a new way and path for cross-strait economic and other exchanges and integration in the new journey of comprehensively promoting the great rejuvenation of the chinese nation with chinese-style modernization and in line with the process of promoting the peaceful reunification of the motherland in the new era.

economic cooperation and exchange are one of the ballast stones for cross-strait integration and development. for many years, the mainland has been the main destination for taiwanese businessmen to invest overseas and the largest trading partner of taiwan.

more than 800 people, including business entrepreneurs, politicians and celebrities from both sides of the taiwan straits, leaders of local business groups, youth groups from both sides of the taiwan straits, and grassroots representatives, attended the opening ceremony of this year's "chongqing-taiwan week", of which nearly 600 were from taiwan.

at the opening ceremony, a signing ceremony for chongqing-taiwan cooperation projects and investment promotion activities for chongqing city and relevant districts and counties were held. nine key cross-strait economic and trade cooperation projects were signed, mainly involving new energy, entrepreneurial services, new materials and other fields, with a total investment of 11.87 billion yuan.

the "guizhou-taiwan forum" held in guizhou is an important cross-strait economic and trade exchange event in the western region. this year is the ninth session, with nearly 300 guests from both sides of the taiwan strait attending.

jiangxi is the inland province closest to taiwan. the "jiangxi-taiwan forum" which was first held in 2003 has now become an important cross-strait economic and trade exchange platform in the central region.

the 19th "jiangxi-taiwan forum" opened in jiujiang, jiangxi on august 30 this year. 500 people from all walks of life from both sides of the taiwan strait attended, including more than 300 guests from taiwan. more than 30 taiwan-funded projects were signed at the conference, with a contract value of more than 13 billion yuan, involving industries such as electronic information, precision manufacturing, biomedicine, and new materials.

overall, in the first eight months of this year, the cross-strait trade volume was us$185.423 billion, of which the mainland imported us$136.113 billion from taiwan, up 8% year-on-year, and the mainland exported us$49.31 billion to taiwan, up 12.4% year-on-year.

on september 10, at the opening ceremony of the 16th "chongqing-taiwan week", zhang zhijun, chairman of the association for relations across the taiwan straits, introduced that in the first half of the year, the number of newly established taiwan-invested enterprises in the mainland increased by 9.2% year-on-year, the cross-strait trade volume increased by 7.6% year-on-year, and the cross-strait personnel exchanges increased by 99.5% year-on-year.

"it can be seen that the majority of taiwanese businessmen, taiwanese compatriots and young people are full of confidence in the development of the mainland. the mainland is more prominent as the best choice for taiwanese businessmen and enterprises to invest, start businesses and become bigger and stronger. the trend of cross-strait integration and development is unstoppable," said zhang zhijun.

the more we visit each other, the closer we become and the more we feel intimate.