When Hengqin and Pingtan, two of the Chinese mainland's most active development zones, met, there were sparks.

On Tuesday, April 23, an investigation group from the Hengqin New Area in Zhuhai city, Guangdong province, visited Fujian's Pingtan Comprehensive Pilot Zone and shared their economic progress experiences.

Officials from both sides exchanged views on development orientation, industry status, financing platforms, business approval mechanisms and land planning.

The two brothers have so much in common: both are special island development zones, one is located in the west of the Taiwan Straits and the other in the west of the Pearl River, and both enjoy more preferential policies from central and provincial governments.

The opening-up and exploitation of Pingtan is a national strategy to build a common homeland for people across the Taiwan Straits. Pingtan aims to transform into a free trade port and become a logistics hub of cross-Straits communication, said Gong Qinggai, director of Pingtan's administrative committee.

"I am full of emotion witnessing how fast Pingtan is developing," said Liu Jia, Party secretary of the Hengqin New Area. “Hengqin and Pingtan are like brothers with much in common. Although Pingtan was developed later, it now leads Hengqin in many aspects. I hope we can take the opportunity to learn from each other and make progress together."

Edited by Chen Zhilin and Michael Thai