Located in the southern part of East China's Fujian Province, less than 200 nautical miles (370 kilometres) from the west coast of the Taiwan Island, the port of Xiamen has always played a significant role in cross-Straits communication.

Sharing a common culture and language with Taiwan, the city has a unique advantage in cross-Straits exchanges and shoulders a special task of promoting cross-Straits relations.

Ever since the establishment of the Xiamen Special Economic Zone in 1981, the city has attracted the attention of Taiwanese business people and received continuous heavy investment from Taiwan.

Huang Maoxiong, director of the Taiwan Association of Industry and Commerce and board chairman of the TECO Group, chose Xiamen as its centre of research and development, sales and service in the Chinese mainland this month.

Huang believed that Xiamen, as a major city in the west of the Taiwan Straits, will become a gateway to the Chinese mainland for Taiwanese companies when cross-Straits direct mail, trade, air and shipping services come into reality in the future.

Most of the Taiwanese investors in Xiamen share the same point of view as Huang and are optimistic about their future development.

In 1981, Xiamen received Taiwanese people of only some 360 person-times. In 2005, the number rose to more than 238,000.

By the end of June, the city has approved more than 2,400 Taiwanese companies. The first entered Xiamen in 1983.

At present, three out of four Taiwanese investment zones in the Chinese mainland are located in Xiamen, which is a reflection of Xiamen's status as the most important city for Taiwanese investment.

In 1997, the central government chose Xiamen as one of the pilot ports for cross-Straits direct sail.

Seizing the opportunity, Xiamen realized a direct shipping link for container ships with Kaohsiung in Taiwan, bringing an end to a history of 50 years' non-direct shipping across the Taiwan Straits.

By hosting trade events such as the China International Fair for Investment and Trade, the Xiamen Cross-Straits Export Commodities Fair and the Cross-Straits Book Fair, Xiamen has become a bridgehead for Taiwanese business people to explore the mainland market.

After the central government allowed sales of agricultural products from Taiwan in the mainland, Xiamen has been actively constructing the largest Taiwanese fruit collecting and distributing centre in the mainland.

The important role played by Xiamen in cross-Straits exchanges has won recognition from many of Taiwan's political figures.

Lien Chan, honourable chairman of the Kuomintang, and James Soong, former governor of Taiwan Province, stopped by Xiamen during their historic visit to the mainland in 2005.

Both of them expected Xiamen to play a bigger role in cross-Straits exchanges as a bridge for both the Chinese mainland and Taiwan.

(China Daily 12/27/2006 page8)