A senior official from the Kuomintang (KMT), Taiwan's ruling party, visited the Pingtan Comprehensive Pilot Zone (PCPZ) on the Chinese mainland's Fujian province on Feb 28, as part of the cross-Straits employment exchange effort.

Yao Chiang-Lin, a member of KMT's central standing committee, is chairman of the Chung-Hua Cross-Straits Labor Relations Development Association (CLRDA).

Yao, who has been to Pingtan twice, said progress in Pingtan over the past few years left him deeply impressed. And Pingtan's geographic advantage of being closest to Taiwan will definitely help to lure more Taiwan people.

Haixia, a high-speed passenger ferry that regularly sails between Pingtan, Taichung and Taipei, has helped link Taiwan's farm products to the mainland market, he said.

Yao attended an opening ceremony for a cross-Straits employee exchange center on March 1, and hailed its establishment, echoing his earlier idea in 2012 that there should be a platform to connect laborers from across the Straits and expand cooperation.

"Pingtan is the nearest (mainland county) to Taiwan and a pilot zone for cross-Straits collaboration. So it is a perfect location to house the Cross-Straits Employees Exchange Center," Yao said.

Yao pledged to boost cross-Straits communication by increasing interactions by employees from both sides.

He said there will be a cycling tour in Pingtan for cross-Straits workers to promote a low-carbon life. CLRDA will also help build a startup park for workers and provide help in agricultural technology innovations.

Edited by Chen Zhilin and Nelly Min