To promote CIFIT and the Xiamen Industry Exposition, the Xiamen Municipal Bureau of Convention and Exhibition Affairs sent a delegation to visit Taiwan from Dec 2 to 8.

The delegation, led by the bureau chief Wang Qiongwen, visited business associations such as the Taiwan Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers' Association and the Taiwan Association of Machinery Industry.

The delegation organized two networking events in Taipei and Taichung.

The Taipei event saw an attendance of nearly 100 people, including representatives from 50 industrial and commercial organizations.

Lin Zhongsen, chairman of the Straits Exchange Foundation, Zhan Huosheng, chairman of the Cross-Straits Common Market Foundation, and Zheng Fuxiong, deputy director-general of the Taiwan Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers' Association gave their insights on cross-Straits economic cooperation and the roles of CIFIT and the Xiamen Industry Exposition at the Taipei event.

Nearly 70 business organizations sent representatives to the Taichung event, including the Council for Industrial and Commercial Development, the Taichung City Chamber of Commerce, World Trade Center Taichung, and the Taiwan Association of Machinery Industry.

At the two events, the delegation introduced Xiamen's two international trade fairs that will take place in 2016. Topics such as cross-Straits cooperation and exhibition arrangements lured attendants.

Twelve mainstream media organizations from Taiwan and the mainland made serial reports on the delegation's Taiwan tour and helped spread the fairs' influence in central and northern Taiwan.

The delegation also visited individual organizations for effective, direct communication.

Through a string of exchange activities in the seven-day trip, the delegation learned what Taiwan businessmen need, and discussed the possibilities of cooperation.

Their efforts received positive responses from Taiwan enterprises, which expressed intentions to launch booths at the Xiamen fairs in 2016.

Edited by Andrew Ancheta