Delegates from the mainland and Taiwan met in Xiamen on Tuesday to engage in discussions on how to further industrial cooperation.

The discussions took place at the Cross-Straits Industrial Cooperation Summit, part of the four-day-long Xiamen International Industrial Exposition held at the Xiamen International Convention and Exhibition Center.

Government officials and representatives of enterprises were among those in attendance at the summit, which emphasized key themes of technological transformation, accelerator collaboration and informatization.

Wang Ruixiang, president of the China Machinery Industry Federation was among those who addressed participants on the day. He said that machinery manufacturers from the mainland and Taiwan benefited from a "healthy relationship" and had achieved fruitful results.

Also held on the day was the Economy and Trade Across Taiwan Straits forum, which was held under the theme 'new engine to innovation and entrepreneurship'.

Speaking at the forum, deputy chief of Xiamen's Haicang district, Wu Weiping, announced an entrepreneurship contest which welcomes young talents from the mainland and Taiwan to take part in.

The contest will run until the end of November this year, according to Wu. The Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council and the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits are among the sponsors of the event.

The Xiamen startup incubator for the cross-Straits young talents, one of the 12 designated by the Taiwan Affairs Office in 2015, will be running the contest. It is considering working with certain Taiwan counterparts to create a sound, encouraging environment for young entrepreneurs.

The Economy and Trade Across Taiwan Straits forum was attended by social dignitaries who contributed majorly to improving the ties. These included Chen Deming, president of the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits; Zhan Huosheng, chairman of the Cross-Straits Common Market Foundation; and Wang Liaoping, president of Association of Economy and Trade Across Taiwan Straits.

Chen Deming, took the advantage of the forum to express his observation on mainland-Taiwan ties in recent years.

He said in-depth exchange and cooperation after the 2008 crisis had been expanded to include various aspects of the economy and society, and had benefited millions living on the mainland and Taiwan.

Also in attendance were Xiamen Mayor Pei Jinjia and Deputy Mayor Ni Chao.

Mayor Pei said that the city will allocate more resources including financial support to push for cooperation in software, logistics, finance, culture and advanced manufacturing.

By Liu Sitong and edited by Jacob Hooson