Governor of Fujian province Su Shulin said he believes now is the right time to boost cooperation between Fujian and Taiwan, given the peaceful development momentum between the Chinese mainland and the island.

In a meeting with Chiang Pin-kung, chairman of Taiwan-based Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) on Tuesday, Su said Fujian has become an ideal place to invest because it is geographically close to the island and has formulated favorable policies for Taiwan people to invest in the province.

Su, who is leading a delegation on a five-day trip to Taiwan, said Fujian's "abundant business opportunities" have raise its profile among Taiwan businessmen, who used to prefer to channel investment into the coastal provinces of Guangdong and Jiangsu over the past two decades.

The governor said he believed the close cultural, geographic, and people-to-people ties between Fujian and Taiwan would help promote Fujian-Taiwan cooperation.

Su is the mainland's second high-level local official to visit the island this year. Upon his arrival in Taichung on Saturday, he highlighted the common ancestry of Taiwan people and residents in Fujian.

The Taiwan Strait separates Taiwan from Fujian, located on the southeast coast of the Chinese mainland. About 80 percent of Taiwan people can trace their ancestral links to Fujian.

During his trip, Su toured temple fairs, visited tea farmers and talked to entrepreneurs. He also used the opportunity to woo Taiwan investment in Pingtan, a Fujian island that was designated as a pilot area for cross-strait cooperation in July 2009.

The Pingtan project has drawn some speculation in Taiwan as some believe there were political motives behind it.

When meeting Lien Chan, the honorary chairman of Taiwan's ruling Kuomintang (KMT) party, Su said the Pingtan project was aimed at bringing practical benefits to Taiwan compatriots.

Taiwan people could enjoy a slew of preferential policies regarding taxation, finance, among others. Meanwhile, Pingtan imposes looser restriction on Taiwan media, according to the governor.

With an area of about 324 square km, Pingtan is the closet Chinese mainland island to Taiwan.

The mainland aims to channel 60 billion yuan ($9.53 billion) to develop the zone this year, targeting an overall investment of 250 billion yuan during the 2011-2015 period, Su said during a meeting at Taiwan's Hsinchu on Sunday.

Favorable investment policies at Pingtan demonstrated a goodwill of the mainland for Taiwan, he stressed at the meeting in Hsinchu.

Edited by Chen Zhilin