Authorities in Pingtan have enhanced their promotional efforts on the Taiwan Commodity Market in the wake of an inspection visit by Fujian's governor Su Shulin last month.

Su came over to the market on Aug 25, and urged local officials to attend to the needs of the merchants in the market after having down-to-earth discussions with them.

The authorities responded immediately to Su's instructions, issuing an outline on Aug 27 which rolled out major task arrangements in order to promote the market brand as well as to create more convenience for both merchants and customers.

Media outlets in Pingtan, including newspapers, TV stations and web portals, have made special coverage of the market. Large billboards were set up on main downtown roads. And a variety of cultural and sporting events were staged at the market, all in a bid to entice a bigger crowd.

In addition, the publicity authority pledged that they would invite a batch of state-owned media agencies and those from Taiwan to the market to catapult it to a national platform. Pingtan will also step up advertising on some of Fujian's major express ways.

To meet the growing flow of customers, the market added 150 shopping trolleys on Aug 30, and opened two shuttle bus routes to neighboring Fuzhou city on the same day.

Other methods benefiting the merchants include simplified customs procedures for imported goods, a solution to the refrigeration of sea products at the market and relaxed restrictions on on-site processing of goods, according to the outline.

Background:

The Taiwan Commodity Market, which opened in June 2014, is situated in Aoqian town, covering about 160,000 square meters.

It comprises 38 buildings in the Minnan folk style, divided into a duty-free zone, non-duty free zone and support function zone.

Only one duty-free shopping mall in the No 1 Building had opened as of June 15. The rest will open in stages.

A favorable tax policy operates at the market, with tax exemptions granted by the Ministry of Finance on six categories of Taiwan goods: oil and grain products; farm products; textiles and garments; artwork; light industrial products and medicine.

The daily cap per person is 6,000 yuan ($960) and purchasing records are tracked. If the sum exceeds the threshold both customers and merchants are notified to pay the tax.