A delegation from Fujian province, headed by its Party secretary You Quan, arrived in Kaohsiung, a southern port city in Taiwan, for economic and cultural exchange on Monday.

You, the first Fujian Party Chief to conduct an official cross-Straits visit, addressed a big crowd at the airport. In the Hokkien dialect, he said he hopes he can use his maiden visit to the island to boost industrial collaboration between Fujian and Taiwan.

You and his entourage then boarded a ship that morning to explore the Kaohsiung Free Trade Zone. There, he learned about the port’s development and joined the crew for lunch.

In the afternoon, You inspected an orchid BioPark in Tainan county and met with representatives from local businesses.

Fujian and Taiwan have much in common—such as climate, language and lifestyle—which make an easy foundation for communication, said You. And the enormous market on the Chinese mainland also guarantees a bright future in cross-Straits agricultural cooperation, he added.

With the largest orchid output volume in the world, Taiwan is known as the Kingdom of the Orchid. As such, the BioPark communicates often with its counterpart in Zhangpu county in Fujian province.

Later in the afternoon, You swung by an orchid house to learn about the soilless cultivation technology adopted by its farmers.

You will continue his five-day visit to Taiwan on Tuesday at the invitation of the Central Committee of the Kuomintang, the ruling party in Taiwan. The delegation will tour more cities and counties including Nantou, Taoyuan, Taichung, Taipei and Kinmen and connect with grass roots representatives of local businesses as well as members of the public.