TAIPEI, April 18 (Xinhua) - A visiting mainland official from Anhui Province on Monday said that he hopes the story of past Taiwan governor Liu Mingchuan could bring people living in both Anhui and Taiwan closer.
A mainland delegation led by Wang Sanyun, governor of Anhui Province, arrived in Taiwan for a trip to boost trade and cultural exchanges. Wang and his delegation met with Chiang Pin-kung, Taiwan's chief negotiator with the mainland, on Monday.
Liu Mingchuan (1836-1896) was a general during the Qing Dynasty who was born in Hefei in Anhui Province. He led a successful resistance to French invaders of Taiwan in 1884 when the Sino-French war broke out, and the following year was appointed the first governor of Taiwan Province.
During his term of office (1885-1891), Liu made great contributions to defense, improving administration, and developing the island's economy by building railways, coal mines and schools.
"Liu Mingchuan is the most important bond and link between the people in Taiwan and Anhui," Wang said when meeting with Chiang, chairman of the Taiwan-based Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF).
"With this common sentiment, we hope the people of Taiwan could know more about the Anhui Province and its people," Wang said.
Chiang said that a visit to Anhui last year gave him an impressive understanding of the province's potential for entrepreneurs from Taiwan working in the mainland to transform their businesses from the manufacturing sector to the service sector.
Wang told Chiang that Anhui has many advantages in resources, manpower and technology that can help Taiwan enterprises that invest in the mainland to move from the eastern coastal areas to the mainland's central regions and cooperate with local firms.
With the goal of conducting deep and wide-ranging communication with counterparts in Taiwan, Wang brought with him a dozen officials in charge of commerce, education, and cultural departments of the provincial government, as well as a group of Anhui businessmen.
During a six-day trip to the island, the delegation will visit Ming Chuan University, which was named after Liu Mingchuan, and present a bronze statue of Liu to the university in Taipei.
The delegation will also visit one of the world's largest petrochemical companies, Formosa Plastic Group, as well as Hon Hai Precision Industry, which is better known for its subsidiary Foxconn, the world's largest original equipment manufacturer for computer, communication and consumer electronics.
After the mainland and Taiwan established direct postal, air, shipping and trade links and signed the landmark Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement, trade volume between Taiwan and Anhui reached nearly 600 million U.S. dollars last year. More than 500,000 Taiwan travelers visited Anhui in 2010.