Xiamen, a pivotal city in cross-Straits trade

Freighters loaded with 1200 tons of goods from Taiwan's Kaohsiung arrived in Xiamen on Feb 14.

Three vessels carried 134 containers loaded with 700 metric tons of fruit and 500 metric tons of aquatic products.

According to Zheng Yao, deputy director of the Xiamen municipal bureau of commerce, the shipments are the largest imports of their kind from Taiwan so far this year.

Statistics show that imports of Taiwan fruits and aquatic products via Xiamen port reached 6,030 and 4,100 metric tons respectively in the initial stage of this year.

Since its inception in 2005, Tongyi port in Xiamen has become a significant transport hub for fresh produce and aquatic products from the island to mainland markets, banking on its advantageous location and high level of trade facilitation.

From 2005 to 2018, Taiwan fruit imports passing through Xiamen surged from 207 metric tons to 47,000 tons, a 226-fold spike, official data show.

According to Zheng, 90 percent of Taiwan fruit entering the mainland is now via Xiamen, which tops all the ports on the mainland in terms of volume. Meanwhile, the aquatic product imports it handled from the island jumped from $2,500 to $66.98 million in value over the same period.

Lin Ziyi, an official from Xiamen customs, revealed that in a bid to facilitate Taiwan fruit importing, the local authorities rolled out a raft of policies and measures which has greatly shortened the time required for customs clearing.

Not confining itself to fruits and aquatic products, it is reported that the city is looking to further expand its connectivity with Taiwan cities including Kaohsiung and Taichung, and to build itself into a national distribution center for Taiwan products entering the mainland market.