Taipei: China’s latest package of 12 measures aimed at advancing cross-Taiwan Strait “integration” will have little effect in attracting Taiwanese investment, Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) predicted Tuesday. The MAC was responding to a report by China’s state-run Xinhua News Agency that the Fujian provincial government announced new measures to further “advance” Fujian as a “cross-strait integrated development demonstration zone.”
According to Focus Taiwan, the measures include offering preferential insurance premiums to Taiwan-funded aquaculture firms and improving tax services for Taiwanese individuals and businesses, including the establishment of a dedicated tax consultation hotline. In a statement, the MAC predicted the measures would fail based on similar efforts in recent years that have had “far from ideal” results. It said Fujian has rolled out 74 measures targeting Taiwanese investment since Beijing issued a policy paper in September 2023, yet investment there by Taiwanese businesses has declined sharply.
The council cited data showing that Taiwanese investment in Fujian approved by Taiwan’s government totaled US$67 million in the first 10 months of 2025, down 94 percent from a year earlier. One of the new measures outlined by Fujian officials was to promote investment in Taiwan, offering a subsidy for Taiwanese who open restaurants serving Shaxian delicacies.
Responding to that measure, the MAC said the incentive “appears quite low,” and noted that it will monitor the real intent behind it and whether any related activities violate Taiwan’s regulations. In addition to the 12 new measures, Fujian officials announced plans for infrastructure projects, including a second water pipeline to Kinmen, a Taiwan-held county just off Fujian’s coast.
Currently, part of Kinmen’s water supply is provided by Fujian through a pipeline operating since 2018. The MAC downplayed the idea, citing Water Resources Agency data indicating Kinmen’s sufficient water supply from local sources. The council emphasized that infrastructure projects “were not matters that Chinese authorities could decide unilaterally” but required careful evaluation by Taiwan’s central government, which currently has no plans to pursue such projects.