Cross-Strait businessmen hope for more tariff cuts

The economic and trade volume between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan has increased rapidly in the past decade, thanks to direct routes and new policies. We go to Quanzhou of Fujian Province, a busy hub city opposite Taiwan, and found out what the businessmen there are expecting to see in the next stage.

A rainy day. The Quanzhou to Jinmen ship route has shortened the travel time in bad weather greatly and made life easier for the people shuttle between the both sides of the Taiwan Strait.

Luo Yi, a businessman from Taiwan, said, "There was no direct route before, and we had to fly via Hong Kong, which took about 12 hours. Now I just spend 6 hours from home to here."

Opened in 2006, this route has witnessed the boom of economic and trade links between Chinese mainland and Taiwan.

Li Linglong, Deputy Manager of Shijing Port Service Company, said, "The passenger flow has grown steadily since its opening - it has increased from around 40,000 in 2006 to over 80,000 last year. And we are increasing the frequency to meet the demand."

The boost is attributed to the developed infrastructure, and more importantly, the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement signed in 2010. It is a preferential trade agreement aimed to reduce tariffs and commercial barriers between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait. And Quanzhou has become one of the transit points of the bilateral trade.

From this warehouse in Quanzhou, the fish products from Taiwan will be distributed to Zhejiang, Shanghai, Guangdong and the other parts of China.

The warehouse belongs to Wang Shizhe's farm market. Benefiting from the current policies, he decided to take a step further.

Wang Shizhe, President of Fujian-Taiwan Farm Market, said, "We have applied to build a duty-free platform for the agricultural products between both sides, and hope that the tariffs cut will be extended to more products. So the famers can sell more products, and the consumers can get cheaper prices."

Adam Chen's family company has been doing business in Quanzhou for 10 years. He also wanted to see more products on the tariff-free list.

Adam Chen, Manager of Quanzhou Dongshan Machine Co. said, "The labour cost is getting higher now, and our profit is dropping. It would be helpful if there are more tariff-free products between two sides as well as more tax-cut policies."

While the trade has boomed between Chinese mainland and Taiwan in past decade, so has the Chinese economy and it means rising cost and more competitive market. This has brought new challenges for many Taiwan-funded companies. And many believe that tax preference could be one of the solutions.