Liang Baohua, secretary of the CPC's Jiangsu Committee, said that his current trip is aimed at "deepening exchanges and cooperation in all areas" between Taiwan and Jiangsu.

Liang proposed a complementary strategy under which Taiwanese enterprises would be invited to invest in Jiangsu, especially in its newly developed coastal areas, while Jiangsu businesses would be encouraged to make inroads into Taiwan, thereby creating a "win-win" situation.

To help the Taiwanese enterprises expand their market share in China, a "Cross-Taiwan Strait Commerce and Trade Special Zone" is being built in Kunshan City in Jiangsu, Liang said at the opening of the "Jiangsu Week and Taiwan-Jiangsu Economic and Trade Forum" at the Grand Hotel in Taipei.

Liang, whose Taiwan visit coincided with a tour of the island by 4,000 people from Jiangsu, said that a tourism cooperation pact will be inked to allow Taiwan and Jaingsu to each dispatch 100,000 tourists to the other side annually.

He also called for expanded bilateral cultural and educational cooperation through the gradually establishment of a long-term, regulated mechanism.

Former Vice President Lien Chan, Former Premier Hau Pei-tsun, Chairman Chiang Pin-kung of the Straits Exchange Foundation, and several business tycoons, including Chairman Terry Tai-ming Guo of the Hon Hai Precision Group and Chairman Chen Wu-shyon of the Chinese National Federation of Industries, were present at the ceremony, which was attended by thousands of people.

Chiang recalled that not long after his first visit to Jiangsu in 2000, he forecast that China would sooner or later become a market sought after by global enterprises, and that Taiwan stood a good chance of taking the lead in exploring the Chinese market.

China will one day become the world's largest economy if its economic growth could be maintained, and Taiwan and China should join hands to create a win-win situation, he said.

Guo, who has made heavy investments in the mainland, said in his capacity as "one of the first group of Taiwanese investors in Jiangsu", that Jiangsu province has a vast market, and he urged Liang to offer Taiwan investors the best possible treatment and support by helping them to shift from export-oriented businesses to local consumption-oriented ones.

Chen said that Jaingsu, which has long been the center of the Yangtse Delta Economic Circle, boasts the largest concentration of Taiwanese businessmen in China. Over 60 of the top Taiwan enterprises have established footholds there, and it has the highest trade volume with Taiwan among the Chinese provinces, he noted.

According to Beijing official statistics, as of the end of September, Jiangsu had approved more than 20,000 Taiwanese investment projects with more than US$40 billion in total paid-in capital, accounting for over 30 percent of Taiwan's total investment in China.

The Chinese media has also reported that about 300,000 Taiwanese business people and their dependents now work and live in Jiangsu.

Liang, the highest ranking Chinese official to visit Taiwan, is being accompanied by many senior provincial officials, including 13 city bosses under Jiangsu, business executives, cultural buffs and tour operators -- the largest Chinese group to ever visit Taiwan.

Jiangsu Week features a series of programs, including cultural and arts performances, business-matching meetings, seminars, and arts and photo exhibitions.

(By Chang Ming-kun & Bear Lee)