A matchmaking conference to link Taiwan professionals with companies in Fujian province was held recently, aiming to boost cooperation between talent and capital and help Taiwan people settle in Fujian to drive scientific innovation, local authorities said.

Doctor of biomedicine Chen Cheng-chiang now works at Fujian University of Technology after graduating from a university in the United States. His project — focusing on traditional Chinese medicine — attracted attention at the event. In September 2019, Chen went to Fuzhou, the provincial capital, hoping to build a genetic bank of Chinese herbs and promote TCM.

"Fujian has rich plant resources, and it's close to Taiwan. Settling down here is good to contact more experts and collect data," Chen said.

Now his team is working with other universities to develop new medicines based on plants from Wuyi Mountain and Ali Mountain.

"With such platform to contact Fujian companies, I hope our dreams can take root and sprout," he said.