Xiamen comes up with more incentives to woo Taiwanese people

Taipei, April 11 (CNA) In line with the policy of the central government in Beijing, Xiamen City in China's Fujian Province has come up with substantial incentives aimed at luring Taiwanese people by allowing Taiwanese individuals and companies to compete in the local market on an equal footing with locals.

Based on 31 measures announced by the Beijing-based Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) on Feb. 28 to encourage Taiwanese people to study or develop their careers in China, Xiamen on Tuesday unveiled 60 of its own measures in a program that provide Taiwanese students and businesses with more comprehensive incentives in terms of study, business startups and living in the city.

According to the Xiamen authorities, the raft of measures will help create at least 5,000 job openings and training opportunities for Taiwanese job seekers and interns each year, allowing them to enjoy the same treatment in the local employment market and subsidies for on-the-job training as local citizens.

After having worked for a year in Xiamen, newcomers from Taiwan with a masters degree or higher and who are younger than 35 years old will be eligible for a single subsidy of 30,000 Chinese yuan (US$4,770), while those aged between 35 and 40 will be entitled to a subsidy of 50,000 Chinese yuan.

In terms of interns coming from Taiwan, they will be granted an on-the-job training subsidy and 500 Chinese yuan for house rental every month for a year. Those who come to Xiamen on internships longer than one month for the first time will receive a 2,000 Chinese yuan transportation subsidy.

Taiwanese professionals who serve as experts in Xiamen's municipal agencies on a contract basis from three to five years will receive a subsidy of 200,000 Chinese yuan per year, while Taiwanese teachers will be able to teach arts, physical education and music at local kindergartens and normal high schools on short-term exchange programs.

Due to Xiamen's proximity to Taiwan, a special quarantine inspection zone will be set up to examine products originating from Taiwan's Kinmen Island more swiftly, while a broader range of products imported by Taiwanese companies and which are certified by a third party will be allowed in.

In terms of Taiwanese enterprises, Xiamen is offering them the same treatment as the TAO. While high-tech companies will be given preferential tax rates, Taiwanese businesses are also encouraged to establish shipping companies on their own at the Fujian free trade experimental zone in Xiamen.