On behalf the city's 2.28 million people, Maanshan's Party chief Zhang Xiaolin expressed their determination to make Maanshan into a model city for exchanges and cooperation cross the Straits.

Started in 2012, the Maanshan Electronic Expo has attracted some 5,000 professional buyers from 20-odd countries and regions in Eastern Europe, Southeast Asia, Taiwan province and the mainland, to conduct business exchanges during the past three fairs. Business deals worth more than 15 billion yuan ($1.6 billion) have been inked. The expo is jointly sponsored by Anhui province's relevant agencies, Maanshan municipal government and Taiwan Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers' Association (TEEMA).

Luo Huai-Jia, vice president of Taiwan Electrical and the Electronic Manufacturers' Association, speaks during an Entrepreneurs Grand Gathering in Maanshan. [Qin Dachun/For China Daily]

TEEMA Vice President Luo Huai-Jia said during the expo that whatever the outcome of the 2016 Taiwan "presidential" election, trade and economic exchanges will still be a major factor in maintaining the peaceful and stable development of cross-Straits relations.

In Taiwan, the island's ruling party, the Kuomintang (KMT), is contending with the main opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) for next year's election.

"With such mammoth trade and economic bilateral exchanges, relations across the Straits cannot be too bad," Luo said.