The recent cooling political climate between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan has not affected the enthusiasm of Taiwan's entrepreneurs for attending this year's cross-Straits cultural event.
More than 740 Taiwan-based exhibitors have confirmed their participation in the ninth Cross-Straits Cultural Industries Fair, which is holding in the port city of Xiamen in East China's Fujian province from Nov 4 to 7.
Last year, some 730 enterprises from Taiwan attended the fair.
Other participants include companies and individuals from 29 cities on the Chinese mainland, as well as from some 27 countries and regions along the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road.
Xiamen has witnessed great achievements in communication and cooperation with Taiwan during the 30-plus years of China's reform and opening-up process.
It has now become a crucial trade port with the island and a significant passageway for Taiwan residents visiting the mainland.
The annual Xiamen cultural fair, first launched in 2008, has played an important role in propelling cross-Straits cultural trade and exchange. Official statistics show that there were 270 Taiwan delegations participating in the first session, but today the figure has almost tripled.
Last year, the fair was nominated as one of China's top 10 distinctive events in cultural and creative industries.
Themed "Creative Future", this year's event provides 3,250 booths in an area of 65,000 square meters, equivalent to the size of nine international standard football playing fields, said Huang Weizhou, deputy director of the fair's organizing committee office, at a press conference on Oct 21.
The exhibition hall is divided into four sections, displaying crafts, creative design, digital content and cultural tourism from the mainland and Taiwan.
This year, the organizing committee of the fair has arranged 144 activities, including three forums and seminars, five project and investment matchmaking events as well as 30 parallel sessions in city districts such as Siming, Huli, Jimei and Haicang.
"One of the highlights will be an internet-plus intellectual property derivatives conference focusing on creative design and a related exhibition," said Fu Guoqiang, executive deputy director of the fair's preparatory office. The conference will gather representatives from 12 museums on the Chinese mainland, five Taiwan creative design associations and over 100 famous design companies from both sides.
It aims to promote in-depth cooperation in the IP industry and build a healthy industry ecosystem through Aliyu, Alibaba's largest IP operation platform, integrating IP authorization, design and channel resources with IP services like online trading, sale and protection.
In addition, this year's cultural fair focuses on enhancing communication between countries and regions along the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road to help Chinese culture flourish globally. Twenty-seven countries and regions along the road will attend the event, including Italy, Pakistan, Australia, Poland, Nepal, India, Cameroon and Uzbekistan, making up a total of 148 booths.
India has also set up a themed pavilion that covers an area of 150 sq m.
China announced and implemented on May 15 a policy allowing visa-free entry of foreign tourist groups aboard cruise ships via all cruise ship ports along the country's coastline.
China and Georgia are set to waive visa requirements for travelers starting May 28.
