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Mainland market ripe for Taiwan farmers

By Xing Zhigang (China Daily)
Updated: 2006-08-04 08:43

"When we invest in Fujian, we feel like we are coming home," said Rie-ho Lee, chairman of TenFu Group, a tea company based in Zhangpu.

"That tells why an increasing number of Taiwan investors and farmers have come to Fujian to pursue new business opportunities."

The 71-year-old man set up TenFu Group in 1993 and now owns 6,000 mu (400 hectares) of land for growing tea on the mainland.

His group has established 560 franchise tea shops on the mainland, with an annual revenue of 700 million yuan (US$87.5 million).

Lee stressed that hundreds of thousands of Taiwan farmers like him have benefited from the mainland's preferential agricultural policies towards the island.

As a goodwill gesture, Beijing decided to allow tariff-free imports of 15 varieties of Taiwan-grown fruits in May 2005 and added 11 types of vegetable and some aquatic products to the list in April this year.

Marketing centre

The central government also ordered the establishment of a marketing centre in Xiamen, which is close to Taiwan, to reduce costs for fruit imports from Taiwan.

So far, 86 Taiwan business firms have established shops in the centre, which imported 360 tons of Taiwan-grown fruit valued at US$400,000 in the first half of this year.

Huang Cheng-ching, general manager of Taiwan's Yu-ching Farmers' Association, expressed his thanks for the mainland's incentives.

But he strongly complained about the lack of cross-Straits direct transport links, which has become a major hurdle for fruit trade between Taiwan and the mainland.

Taipei has yet to lift its decades-old ban on the three direct links business, transport and postal services - across the Taiwan Straits.

As Taiwan's fruit has to be transported to the mainland via Hong Kong or Macao, it usually takes at least seven days.

"If there were direct transport links between Taiwan and Xiamen, it would take only 22 hours and thus sharply reduce our delivery time and transport cost," Huang said.

Since the first Taiwan-funded agricultural firm was established in 1981, Fujian has approved 1,894 such enterprises, with investment of US$1.32 billion, ranking top on the mainland. In 2005, agricultural trade between Fujian and Taiwan amounted to US$61.64 million.