Fujian FTZ to focus on cross-Straits trade with Taiwan

Liu Keqing, former mayor of Xiamen, said a number of projects aimed at boosting cross-Straits cooperation, including the development of a currency settlement mechanism for cross-border trade and a cross-Straits cold-chain logistics center, will be developed in the Xiamen section.

An online platform with comprehensive information about the various departments concerned with cross-border trade, such as the industrial and commercial bureau and the tax bureau, has been created to offer streamlined, smoother administrative procedures for registration of new companies, Liu said.

"Innovation plays an important role in developing an FTZ. The platform is a good example of innovative thinking, and it could eventually be promoted in the other two sections," Liu said.

Zhou Qingsong, deputy director of the administrative committee of the Pingtan Comprehensive Pilot Zone, said the FTZ will offer a number of innovative incentives to investors from Taiwan, and the county may allow Taiwan-registered vehicles on its roads. If that happens, it will push for a reciprocal arrangement on the island, he said.

Pingtan will foster a number of new sectors in the zone, including cross-border e-commerce and financial leasing, he added.

The county has already released a negative list, which specifies bans or restrictions on foreign investment, he said, adding that Taiwan investors will be exempt from the zone's restrictions on overseas investment in sectors such as banking, insurance and securities.