Taiwan people with Pingtan origin and Pingtan locals dance together at a welcome banquet held in Pingtan, Fujian province, on Feb 17. [Photo/ptnet.cn]

Pingtan in Southeast China's Fujian province held a banquet on Feb 17, to welcome more than 100 Taiwan people with Pingtan origin who wanted to return to have a look at their hometown during Spring Festival, a popular time for family reunion in China.

With the help of the local Taiwan affairs office, Pingtan Association of Taiwan, local news portal ptnet.cn, and Pingtan Cross-Strait Youth Entrepreneurship Association, the event helped inform those Taiwan people with Pingtan origin, of the current developments in their hometown and strengthen cross-Strait cooperation and exchanges.

At the banquet, 13 performances, including Taiwan folk dances and singing, were given by the Taiwan compatriots, enjoyed greatly by the audience.

The Pingtan Association of Taiwan also reached a deal with ptnet.cn and the Pingtan Cross-Strait Youth Entrepreneurship Association on that day.

The three parties agreed to work together to strengthen cooperation and exchanges between cross-Straits institutions and promote Pingtan's development and global exposure.

Lin Liangyong, head of the Pingtan Association of Taiwan, said that the event was intended to make the members feel proud of their Pingtan origin and encourage them to share their successful experiences to help their hometown develop better.

Established in the city of Taipei in Taiwan in December 2014, the Pingtan Association of Taiwan now has 28 branches and more than 1,000 members. It functions as a bridge between Pingtan and Taiwan and has missions to protect the legitimate rights of Taiwan people with Pingtan origin, help them deal with relations with natives and meditate various disputes.