The Tianjin-Taiwan trade fair held in Tianjin from July 2nd -5th was the largest strait-crossing exhibition ever.

Tremendous improvement in cross strait relations has been made since the Taiwan government agreed to visit the mainland for the worship of ancestors under pressure in 1987.

During the more than 30 years of communication cross the strait, Taiwan people and corporations formed a positive impression of the mainland after its opening up. Many were impressed by the development achieved over those decades.

Back then, sensing great business opportunities, Taiwan merchants came to the mainland with tides of people who went on to target the enormous mainland market as their strategic goal. Both parts benefited from the cooperation as Taiwan is strong in information and communication technology, and the mainland has grown in terms of medical care, finance, artificial intelligence, and other areas.

In 2008, cross strait relations debuted on a new stage when the mainland started visiting, investing in, and studying in Taiwan. On the other hand, increasingly Taiwan people choose to settle in mainland cities. Tianjin, for example, has drawn nearly 10,000 people and 2,383 enterprises with a contract investment sum reaching 16.98 billion.

The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area is very powerful both economically and culturally, and is favored by Taiwan merchants. The Taiwan Investment Enterprise Association was formally established at Tianjin in 1994. At present, the association has 355 individual and group members that cover many fields such as electronic information, petrochemicals, the light food industry and commercial services.

The newly released Measures on promoting cross strait economic and cultural exchange and communication was co-issued by the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council PRC and the National Development and Reform Commission.

Xiao Weize, who is now pursuing his Chinese Medicine PhD in Tianjin, expressed his willing to stay in the city. "Thanks to the favorable policies of the mainland, I have been treated the same as mainland students. I can't wait to tell my family and relatives about these polices so that they can be here to personally see and experience the astonishing developments," said Xiao.