China on the move: Taiwan businessmen

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The 60th anniversary of the People's Republic means 60 years have passed since Taiwan was separated from the Chinese Mainland. Today, cooperation across the Taiwan Strait is the theme of the relationship between the two sides. Xu Zhaoqun visited one Taiwan businessman in living and working in the mainland city of Xiamen, to bring us his story.

About twenty years ago, blockhouses may have been the only visible buildings along the shore of Xiamen. Today's Xiamen is drastically different.

Zeng Qinzhao is one of the pioneers, who helped bring about that transformation.

Zeng said, "For decades ago, Xiamen was a battle front in the confrontation between the two sides. No one saw it as a good place for business. Now, Xiamen has become a bustling metropolis."

Xiamen's achievement can't be separated from the efforts of Taiwan's business sector.

More than 3 thousand firms from Taiwan have contributed to 40 percent of the city's economy, and 60 percent of its import and export trade. About 90 thousand people from Taiwan are living and working in Xiamen. Close to a third have chosen to settle down in the city.

Zeng himself has been living here for 18 years.

Zeng said, "For political reasons, Taiwan is separated from the Mainland. But this is not the will of the people on either side of the straits, and it has been proven by the more than one million people from Taiwan who travel back and forth between Xiamen and Chin-men Island."