Wenzhou welcomes island's aspiring entrepreneurs

The entrepreneurial spirit found in the city of Wenzhou in Zhejiang province has left a profound impression on Pan Po-chuan, a 35-year-old from Taiwan who has dedicated his career to helping Taiwan startups scale and thrive within the Chinese mainland ecosystem.

Born in Taipei, Pan has served as director of the Wenzhou-Taiwan Integrated Development Youth Entrepreneurship Base in Wenzhou since 2021. While studying on the mainland in 2015, he was struck by the city's rapid development and its strong support for young entrepreneurs from Taiwan.

"Entrepreneurs from Wenzhou and Taiwan are both highly driven and entrepreneurial," Pan said. "Why not join forces to become even stronger together?"

Covering more than 1,000 square meters, the entrepreneurship base is home to around 50 companies founded by young Taiwan entrepreneurs. It is equipped with startup workstations, livestreaming studios and e-commerce training facilities.

As part of Wenzhou's support policies for Taiwan entrepreneurs, the base provides two months of free hotel-style accommodation, helps newcomers secure affordable long-term housing in youth apartments, and offers free business registration and office space without utility or property management fees.

To help young entrepreneurs from Taiwan launch their businesses smoothly, the base also assists them in finding free or low-cost retail spaces to connect directly with consumers, Pan said.

"You have to take the first step to understand the mainland market, which has introduced many preferential policies for Taiwan compatriots," Pan said, encouraging more young people from Taiwan to pursue opportunities on the mainland.

Beyond entrepreneurship services, Pan has also established an influencer incubation center focused on livestreaming and digital content creation. The center has signed 40 influencers, including nine young people from Taiwan.

According to 10 policy measures introduced by the mainland in April to promote cross-Strait exchanges, Taiwan industry professionals can participate in the production of mainland micro-dramas and web dramas through various channels.

In recent months, Pan has invited directors and actors from Taiwan to Wenzhou to build a cross-Strait performing arts talent platform. He said the initiative aims to combine the resources of Zhejiang's web series industry and artificial intelligence technologies with creative talent from both sides of the Strait.

Speaking about his broader mission, Pan said many aspects of life on the mainland are not fully understood in Taiwan because of restrictions on information flows and media communication. As a result, Taiwan youth who have established themselves on the mainland play an important role in fostering mutual understanding across the Strait, he added.

"We need to translate our message into expressions that people in Taiwan can understand and relate to," he said. "That way, they can experience the mainland's friendliness firsthand and develop a genuine understanding through personal experience."

Looking ahead, Pan expressed one particular hope: "I hope direct flights between Wenzhou and Taiwan can resume as soon as possible. Wenzhou was once the mainland city with the shortest flight distance to Taiwan, and restoring direct flights would greatly facilitate cross-Strait exchanges."