Entrepreneurs, political representatives highlight complementarity between Tianjin and Taiwan

At the 17th Tianjin-Taiwan Investment and Trade Fair this week, entrepreneurs and political representatives from Taiwan highlighted striking industrial complementarity between Tianjin and Taiwan, noting that the mainland's resilient and promising economy has created a golden window for expanded cross-strait cooperation with broad prospects ahead.

Zhang Ping, vice-chairman of the Chinese mainland side of the Cross-Strait Entrepreneurs Summit, said steady high-quality growth on the mainland has given Taiwan businesses a head start in mapping out long-term development.

"The room for cross-strait industrial collaboration is immense," he said. "We urge entrepreneurs from both sides to embrace the bigger picture and prevailing trends, advance targeted industrial matching, jointly explore emerging industries, and deepen integration of industrial, supply and innovation chains. Such efforts will boost the country's economy and deliver tangible benefits to compatriots across the Taiwan Strait."

Mao Chih-kuo, vice-chairman of the summit's Taiwan side, echoed the upbeat outlook. He explained Tianjin aims to build a national advanced manufacturing hub during the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-30) and integrate advanced manufacturing with modern services. Intelligent, green and integrated industrial development is exactly Taiwan's core strength in industrial upgrading.

"Leveraging our respective strengths to cooperate across multiple industrial chains will surely lift the global core competitiveness of industries for both sides of the strait," Mao said.

Lee Cheng-hung, chairman of the Association of Taiwan Investment Enterprises on the Mainland, stressed the mainland's economy remains resilient, dynamic and full of potential, with its long-term positive fundamentals unchanged. A full suite of Taiwan-friendly policies has laid solid groundwork for Taiwan enterprises to expand their presence on the mainland.

Justin Lin Yifu further analyzed in his keynote speech that China retains an annual growth potential of 8 percent through the 15th Five-Year Plan, contributing roughly 30 percent to global economic growth annually. He called on Taiwan entrepreneurs to seize the opportunities to realize both national rejuvenation and personal career success.

Official data cited by Xinhua News Agency show the Tianjin-Taiwan Investment and Trade Fair has run 16 successful sessions since its launch in 2008, sealing over 380 Taiwan-funded investment projects in total. To date, Tianjin has approved 2,718 Taiwan-invested enterprises with total investment exceeding $19 billion.

Participants agreed the latest fair will serve as a fresh starting point for deeper collaboration in intelligent manufacturing, biomedicine and green industries to jointly promote the country's economy.

Xu He contributed to this story.