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The economic zone on the western coast of the Taiwan Straits is expected to become an economic hub big enough to compete with the Pearl and Yangtze river deltas, China's most important economic powerhouses.

Officials and scholars attending the First Forum on the Economic Zone on the Western Coast of the Taiwan Straits yesterday formally unveiled the concept for the new economic zone, which they expect to be a shinning star among the nation's regional economic clusters. An important step towards building a cross-Straits economic region connecting the Chinese mainland and Taiwan Province, the economic area will have a fundamental influence on future co-operation, participants said.

World Trade Organization chief Pascal Lamy (centre) at the First Forum on the Economic Zone on the Western Coast of the Taiwan Straits, which began in Xiamen, East China's Fujian Province, yesterday. The forum, sponsored by the Fujian municipal government, is the first of its kind and comes in the lead-up to the 10th China International Fair for Investment and Trade. [China Daily]

The forum, the first of its kind and coming ahead of the 10th China International Fair for Investment and Trade, offers the four World Trade Organization (WTO) players in China the mainland, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan an unprecedented platform to discuss trade and investment issues within the one-China framework.

Located opposite Taiwan Province, the economic zone refers to the area that lies west of the Taiwan Straits, centred on East China's Fujian Province, but also covering surrounding areas.

It is right at the juncture of China's economically most developed areas, with the Yangtze River Delta to its north and Pearl River Delta to its south. It is also one of China's major windows to the Asia-Pacific region.

"The west-coast economic zone is a new area on the map of regional economy integration," said Long Yongtu, secretary-general of the Boao Forum for Asia.

"Even though the concept was proposed only two years ago, it has won widespread consensus," said Long.

He said the zone was a significant step towards a cross-Straits economic zone, and an important stage for future co-operation in the regional economy.

Pascal Lamy, director-general of the WTO who gave a speech at yesterday's forum, sees the potential and benefit of strengthening economic and investment links between the two sides of the Taiwan Straits.

"It's not difficult to see how close Fujian Province is to Chinese Taipei," he said. "You share cultural and historical ties, and you speak the same language."

But Fujian Province has plenty of natural resources, a large labour force and a supportive government policy, while Taiwan enjoys advantages of capital, technology and management skills, he said.

With a strengthening economic link between the two sides last year, Lamy said he was looking forward to seeing more trade, investment, exchanges and economic dialogue between the mainland and Taiwan in the future.

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