Taiwan office banking on 31 cities

Thirty-one central and western mainland cities have been selected to strengthen cooperation with Taiwan companies, the spokeswoman for Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council said yesterday.

The 31 selected cities, which will be developed as centers for labour-intensive processing trade industries, will benefit from preferential policies and financial support from the government to help them build necessary facilities, Fan Liqing said at a regular press conference in Beijing.

Between now and 2010, the government will spend 30 billion yuan ($4.37 billion) on infrastructure developments to help attract Taiwan firms to set up or expand existing operations on the mainland, she said.