Guangdong eyes Dongguan hub for cross-Strait sci-tech ties

Guangdong province will continuously explore new cooperative models and optimize the development environment for Taiwan investors, and build Dongguan into an area of deepening innovative collaboration across the Taiwan Strait, said a senior government official of the province.

The local government will make Dongguan, a major global production center, a new base for scientific and technological innovation cooperation between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan province, creating a new engine for industrial innovation and development across the Taiwan Strait in the coming months, said Zhu Wei, deputy director of the Guangdong Provincial Development and Reform Commission.

Zhu made the remarks at a news conference in Guangzhou, the provincial capital, on Wednesday.

He said Dongguan will also be developed into a hub for people-to-people and cultural exchanges, and a platform for exchange and cooperation among the mainland, Taiwan, and the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions.

"The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area is one of the regions with the highest degree of openness and strongest development vitality in the mainland, and Dongguan is a core city in the GBA," he said.

Building a demonstration platform in the GBA for Taiwan companies to integrate into the new development pattern and participate in high-quality development in the GBA is conducive to integrating the advantageous resources of exchange and cooperation with Taiwan, he said. This will allow Taiwan compatriots to share the significant opportunities of GBA's rapid development and jointly construct a bright future for the GBA, he added.

Lyu Chengxi, mayor of Dongguan, said the city government has always been committed to promoting innovation and entrepreneurship for people from Taiwan, especially youngsters, to make them feel like they belong there.

Dongguan fully implements equal treatment for Taiwan compatriots, allowing them to participate in and enjoy the local social security welfare and benefits.

"Meanwhile, students from Taiwan can enjoy the same compulsory education treatment as registered resident students and Taiwan residents who work in Dongguan can also purchase commercial housing in the city," Lyu said.

Fang Tao, deputy director of the provincial office of Taiwan affairs, said Guangdong has attracted more than 33,000 Taiwan-funded companies, with contract investment of more than $93 billion and actual investment valued at more than $71 billion, as of the end of July.

In the first half, the trade volume between Guangdong and Taiwan reached more than 281 billion yuan ($40 billion), and Taiwan achieved a trade surplus of more than 197 billion yuan with Guangdong.

The total trade volume between Guangdong and Taiwan has ranked first among the provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities in the mainland for many years to represent more than one-third of the mainland's total.

And 17 Taiwan firms have been listed on the mainland capital market, while more than 660 Taiwan companies have been recognized as new and high-tech enterprises, he said.