Taiwan professionals are responding to the Pingtan economic development zone's recruitment plan, said Pingtan official Gong Qinggai, a deputy to the National People's Congress, on Monday.

Pingtan, in East China's Fujian province, lies 125 kilometers away from Hsinchu on Taiwan and is the closest point on the mainland to Taiwan.

Over the next five years, Pingtan hopes to recruit 1,000 professionals from Taiwan in fields such as high technology, modern services, agriculture, and social management.

This year, Pingtan plans to offer more than 400 jobs to talented individuals from other countries and regions. Of those jobs, some positions, including an opening for deputy director of the Pingtan management committee, the governing body of Pingtan, and four deputy heads of departments under the committee, are targeted for professionals from Taiwan.

Taiwan professionals who go to work in Pingtan will enjoy a package of benefits in such areas as taxation, housing, and children's education.