Beijing yesterday unveiled a new package of policies to
facilitate Taiwan people's wider access to the mainland in
education, employment and investment sectors.
Addressing the closing ceremony of the 3rd Cross-Straits Economic, Trade and Cultural
Forum, Vice Minister of Education Yuan Guiren announced that
universities in Taiwan are encouraged to recruit students from the
mainland.
About 2,300 Taiwan students studied in mainland universities
last year, and a quarter of them enjoyed scholarships.
But restricted by the present policies on the island, mainland
students are only allowed to study in Taiwan universities for no
longer than four months.
"We will help the students go to Taiwan for study, and continue
to facilitate personnel exchanges," Yuan said.
Residents from Taiwan are also encouraged to participate in 15
categories of professional qualification exams on the mainland.
They include exams in the healthcare, accounting and economy
sectors.
Vice Minister of Public Security Meng Hongwei also announced at
the ceremony that three more cities -- Guangzhou, Qingdao and Wuhan
-- will join another eight cities authorized to issue valid passes
to Taiwan residents entering the mainland starting May 15.
The eight cities are: Haikou, Sanya, Xiamen, Fuzhou, Shanghai,
Shenyang, Dalian and Chengdu.
In addition to Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Xiamen, six more
cities Chengdu, Hangzhou, Nanjing, Shenzhen, Dalian and Guilin are
entitled to accommodate charter flights cross the Taiwan Straits
during festivals, Gao Hongfeng, vice minister of the General
Administration of Civil Aviation, said.
Taiwan airlines are encouraged to form joint ventures with their
mainland counterparts and invest in airport construction, Gao
said.
Also, shipping giants from Taiwan can invest in wholly owned
shipping and container transport firms and operate ports and
highways, said Vice Minister of Communications Xu Zuyuan.
Taiwan investors have poured about US$100 billion into the
mainland over the last two decades.
(China Daily April 30, 2007)
