Why has this become a hot land for Taiwanese youth to pursue their dreams? | Fuzhou | Hot Land

[Strait Focus]

Guangming Daily reporter Gao Jianjin and Feng Jiazhao

Ma Wei and Ma Zu face each other in close proximity, and the bloodline of Rongcheng Treasure Island is intertwined. Fuzhou is the closest provincial capital city in mainland China to the island of Taiwan, and the two places have a constantly strained relationship.

In recent years, Fuzhou has made efforts to explore new paths of integration and development between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, actively building a leading city as the first home for Taiwanese compatriots and enterprises to "land". By focusing on the word "new" and creating the "first station" for Taiwanese youth to "land" and build their dreams, Fuzhou has become a leading city; Develop new strategies on the word "reality" to create a "preferred station" for Taiwanese compatriots to take root; Work hard on the word "benefit" to create a "gas station" for the development and growth of Taiwanese enterprises.

A series of timely and heartwarming measures have created better conditions and built a larger stage for Taiwanese youth to "land" and pursue, build, and fulfill their dreams. They actively participated in the process of Chinese path to modernization and enjoyed the fruitful results of Chinese path to modernization. From the seaside to the mountainous areas, from the city to the countryside, more and more Taiwanese new generation are entering and integrating into the land of Rongcheng, striving for their careers and taking root, becoming a beautiful scenery of youth.

As of now, a total of 4701 Taiwan funded projects have been approved in Fuzhou, with nearly 26000 Taiwanese residents residing in Rong and 9600 Taiwanese youth interning for employment and entrepreneurship in Rong. On this hot land, the new generation of Taiwanese youth are taking over the older generation of Taiwanese businessmen, starting businesses and settling down in mainland China, writing vivid stories about the two sides of the Taiwan Strait.

Liao Wenru, a Taiwanese youth and associate professor at Xinhua Business School, communicates with students after class. Photo taken by Lin Li/Bright Picture

Login: To showcase talent

Fuzhou Yongtai is a well-known "hometown of green plums". On the weekend, at the Meibaihua Qingmei Cultural and Creative Park in Taikou Village, Geling Town, Yongtai County, a sightseeing factory showcases freshly made plum preserved plum cakes, groups of tourists stroll in the park, and the fragrance of plum wine wafts in the air

Mei Baihua Creative Park was created by Yang Qiwei, a Taiwanese businessman born in the 1980s. His father, Yang Ronghui, was one of the earliest Taiwanese businessmen to land on the platform. Now, while continuing his father's "mainland bond", Yang Qiwei has turned his entrepreneurial focus to the new opportunities for rural revitalization here.

"Telling the story of Yongtai's green plum and spreading China's green plum culture is the original intention of our tourism factory." Yang Qiwei explained that the green plum tourism factory combines traditional factories with leisure agriculture, using green plum production processes, worker operations, planting demonstrations, and other tourism projects to provide tourists with diverse experiences such as sightseeing, science popularization, and agriculture, and also "add fuel and pay" to the construction of beautiful rural areas.

Rural revitalization holds enormous opportunities and has become a new stage for young talents in Taiwan to land, pursue, build, and fulfill their dreams. In recent years, Fuzhou has introduced a series of policies and innovated a replicable model of Taiwanese talent participation in rural revitalization. As of now, the city has introduced a total of 35 Taiwan township construction and entrepreneurship teams, 105 Taiwanese compatriots, and served 67 village projects.

From rural areas to cities, from fields to classrooms, Taiwanese youth who come across the sea not only realize their dreams of innovation and entrepreneurship, but also become an important force for high-quality development in Fuzhou. Last May, five Taiwanese youths were awarded the Fujian Youth May Fourth Medal, and Chen Zhaozhi, Associate Professor and Master's Supervisor at Fujian Normal University, was one of them.

On site of the Cross Strait Youth Slow Baseball Invitational. Photo taken by Hiroshi Hara/Bright Pictures

Chen Zhaozhi is from Taichung, Taiwan. In 2012, he went to Peking University to pursue a doctoral degree. After learning that Fujian has introduced multiple policies to introduce Taiwanese talents, he chose to work in Fuzhou after graduating with a PhD. In Chen Zhaozhi's view, the mainland has broader development prospects and greater space for talent to be displayed. "The strong support of the Fuzhou Municipal Government also allows us to experience the broad prospects of development in Rong.".

In recent years, Fuzhou has included Taiwanese teachers as an important component of its talent pool, establishing the Fuzhou Taiwan Association Talent Committee and Fuzhou Taiwan Talent Service Workstation. Nearly 300 Taiwanese talents have been appointed as members of the expert pool, with Taiwanese teachers accounting for the majority.

Chen Zhaozhi told reporters that as more and more Taiwanese teachers come to Fujian for development, it greatly promotes exchanges and cooperation in the academic field of education between Fujian and Taiwan. "Fuzhou provides a lot of employment support for young people in Taiwan, providing a good stage for development," Chen Zhaozhi said. "I hope more young people in Taiwan can come to the mainland to work and start businesses."

Integration: In order to harvest happiness

On the eve of this year's Spring Festival, Taiwanese youth Li Haojie, who has been working in Fuzhou for 8 years, successfully applied for public rental housing for Taiwanese compatriots. He was full of joy and called it the "best New Year gift": "I will have roots in Fuzhou in the future!"

For the convenience of Taiwanese residents living and working in Rong, Fuzhou has taken the lead in incorporating employment and entrepreneurship in Rong into the public rental housing security system, providing 1050 units of public rental housing to Taiwanese residents. At present, 241 households and 363 Taiwanese residents have settled in Taiwan Apartments, making it the largest Taiwanese residential apartment in Fujian Province and a cross-strait community with relatively concentrated Taiwanese residents in mainland China.

As more and more Taiwanese residents move into public rental housing, Fuzhou City is exploring the practice of serving Taiwanese residents with Taiwanese residents. Taiwanese compatriot Wang Tingwei actively helped other Taiwanese compatriots integrate into the local community and was elected as the first Taiwanese compatriot building leader in Fujian. The kind-hearted Taiwanese compatriot Li Jingji was also hired as a community architect, and together they built a bridge between Taiwanese compatriots and the community.

Meibaihua Cultural and Creative Park is gradually launching various plum products. Provided by Yongtai County Integrated Media Center in Fuzhou City

Chen Wenjing, Secretary of the Party Branch of Guixi Community, said that the building director and the construction engineer conveyed community policies to each Taiwanese household and provided feedback on their ideas, forming a good cycle of co governance.

In the view of Taiwanese current affairs commentator Qiu Yi, living in a foreign land is the primary challenge faced by young people. After visiting the apartments of Taiwanese compatriots in Fuzhou, Qiu Yi sighed, "Taiwanese compatriots are more actively integrating here, treating Fuzhou as their own home, which is a manifestation of 'one family on both sides of the Taiwan Strait'."

Not only has it solved the problem of housing, but Fuzhou has also continued to implement various measures for equal treatment. Last year, Taiwanese residents used their residence permits to achieve online real name authentication on the eFuzhou App. eFuzhou became the first district and city level government service app in Fujian Province to achieve online real name authentication for Taiwanese residents.

21 years ago, 17-year-old Chen Borui came to mainland China to study medicine. After graduation, he worked at the Fuzhou Skin Disease Prevention and Treatment Institute, becoming the first Taiwanese compatriot hired by a public institution in Fuzhou to hold a master's degree. Now, he has grown into an associate chief physician and is working hard for his beloved medical career in Fuzhou.

"We grew up in Taiwan, accompanied by the rapid development of the mainland's economy, and are a group of Taiwanese youths who have integrated the ideas of both sides of the Taiwan Strait." Chen Borui said that he wants to become a bridge between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait, help more Taiwanese compatriots integrate into the mainland, and let both sides work together to develop and shine together.

Last year, Chen Borui and his family were also named the "Most Beautiful Family" in the country. As of now, more than 300 talents in Rong Taiwan have been awarded provincial and municipal honors such as the Youth May Fourth Medal and Fuzhou Honorary Citizen.

To give Taiwanese compatriots in Fuzhou a greater sense of honor, participation, and achievement, allowing them to truly integrate and achieve a peaceful and prosperous life, Fuzhou is increasingly referred to as the "preferred station" for them to work hard in mainland China.

Fuzhou Taiwanese public rental housing community. Photo taken by Lin Shuangwei/Bright Image

Exchange: For the sake of family ties on both sides of the Taiwan Strait

"Sanfang Qixiang has a profound historical background and rich cultural connotations. We hope to tell the story here through images." Recently, the Rongtai Photography Art Exchange Event was held at the Taiwan Club in Fuzhou.

The Fuzhou Taiwan Guild Hall, located in Huangxiang, Sanfang, Qixiang, Fuzhou, was formerly known as the Fuzhou Taiwan Two Commandery Examination Hall. It was a residence exclusively for Taiwanese scholars to participate in the Fujian Provincial Examination and the Beijing Provincial Examination during the late Qing Dynasty. On that day, more than 10 photographers from Taiwan visited the Taiwan Guild Hall and held a plaque ceremony for the "Cross Strait Film and Art Exchange Creation Base". The organizer hopes to promote spiritual harmony between compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Strait from the perspective of photography art through exchange activities.

Nowadays, the exchange activities at Rongtai are becoming increasingly lively. Since March 2021, Fuzhou has hosted over 200 banyan and Taiwan exchange projects. Especially the Cross Strait Youth Day, which is never absent every year, has been successfully held for ten times and has become a "golden signboard" for youth exchanges between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait. Over the past 10 years, the Haiqing Festival has attracted approximately 30000 young people from both sides of the Taiwan Strait, including approximately 17000 young people from Taiwan.

In cross-strait exchange activities, Fuzhou has become an important window for Taiwanese youth to experience the mainland of China: entering the thriving Binhai New City, visiting NetDragon Network Company and Donghu Digital Town, and experiencing the cutting-edge digital technology; Visit historical and cultural landmarks such as Sanfang Qixiang, Shangxiahang, and Mawei Shipbuilding School in Fuzhou, listen to the echoes of history, and explore the roots of cross-strait culture. Many Taiwanese youth who come to Fuzhou feel the vitality of Fuzhou's development and are determined to stay and develop.

To this end, Fuzhou has introduced 5 policies specifically targeting Taiwan's youth and 3 comprehensive policies that benefit Taiwan's youth, forming a policy system that guarantees the transition of Taiwan's youth from "landing" to development and integration.

Last year, the Mintai Historical and Cultural Research Institute and the Fujian Provincial Radio and Television Group jointly launched a series of micro documentaries called "My Family's Cross Strait Stories", focusing on the Taiwanese youth who work, live, and take root in Fujian. Among them, there are not only white clad guardians who have intermarried across the sea and taken root, but also passionate young people who search for their roots with genealogies and family letters, as well as rap singers who sing the true colors of Minnan in Minnan dialect... These real and vivid cases allow more Taiwanese people to know, understand, and take root in Fujian. The series of documentaries is released once a year, with 10 episodes per season. The first season was aired on Southeast TV and Strait TV in 2022, and simultaneously released on domestic and foreign platforms such as iQiyi, Bilibili, Youku, Facebook, and YouTube, becoming a documentary that compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Strait are eager to watch.

From "based in Fuzhou" to "connecting the two sides", in the process of pursuing dreams on the mainland, more and more Taiwanese youth are pursuing not only their own development, but also resonance with the times and the motherland.