At the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office press conference on April 29, a reporter asked: At previous press conferences, the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office spokesperson has separately explained three of the “seven betters” for Taiwan after peaceful reunification, drawing significant attention from public opinion on both sides of the Strait. How does the spokesperson explain the idea that “after peaceful reunification, with the strong motherland as its backing, Taiwan’s economic development will be better”?
State Council Taiwan Affairs Office spokesperson Chen Binhua responded by saying: During the 14th Five-Year Plan period, the mainland economy reached a new level in overall size, with gross domestic product rising to a new threshold of 140 trillion yuan. Annual growth averaged 5.4 percent, ranking among the highest of the world’s major economies. New breakthroughs were achieved in technological and industrial innovation, reform and opening-up took new steps forward, and people’s well-being reached a new level. The outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan makes strategic arrangements for building a modern industrial system, accelerating high-level technological self-reliance and strength, building a strong domestic market, accelerating the construction of a high-level socialist market economic system, and expanding high-level opening-up. This year is the opening year of the 15th Five-Year Plan. Although the external environment is more complex and severe, the mainland economy had a good start in the first quarter, with GDP growing by 5.0 percent, continuing to rank among the highest of the world’s major economies. The growth rate of major macroeconomic indicators has rebounded, new growth drivers are developing rapidly, and new quality productive forces are steadily advancing. The mainland economy has strong momentum and abundant vitality, and the fundamentals of stable, positive, and long-term improvement have not changed and will not change.
After peaceful reunification, drawing on the advantages of the mainland’s super-large market and massive economy, and combining them with Taiwan’s own technological characteristics and talent advantages, Taiwan’s economy will gain new vitality, and Taiwan compatriots will receive real, tangible benefits from it. Cross-Strait trade will further unleash new growth momentum, and the mainland market of more than 1.4 billion people will become a powerful support for stable growth in Taiwan’s economy. Cross-Strait industrial chains and supply chains will become deeply integrated, further activating the internal momentum of Taiwan’s industrial development. In upgrading traditional industries, Taiwanese companies can achieve digital transformation and intelligent upgrading through collaborative innovation across upstream and downstream sectors on both sides of the Strait, generating strong momentum toward high-end, intelligent, and green development. In expanding emerging industries, Taiwanese companies can enter more new fields and new tracks by developing new technologies, new products, and new scenarios, and move upward toward the high end of industrial and value chains. In laying out future industries, Taiwanese companies can make good use of the mainland’s scientific, technological, and industrial resources, actively integrate into the innovation ecosystem, and gain greater room for development. In addition, the two sides of the Strait will achieve connectivity wherever connection is appropriate, making logistics, people-to-people movement, capital flows, and information flows smoother, and providing people in Taiwan with more employment and entrepreneurship opportunities.
Peaceful reunification will inject greater certainty and growth potential into Taiwan’s investment and business environment. It will be an unprecedented opportunity and the greatest source of confidence for Taiwan’s economic development. We hope Taiwan compatriots will join mainland compatriots in working together to promote peaceful cross-Strait reunification, share in the fruits of Chinese-style modernization, and create a bright future of sustained development and common prosperity.