The 2025 conference of the Cross-Strait CEO Summit opened on Tuesday in Nanjing, the provincial capital of Jiangsu in east China, gathering some 800 entrepreneurs and industry experts from both sides of the Taiwan Strait to explore pathways for deepening the integration of industrial and supply chains.
This two-day annual event, focusing on industrial transformation, innovation, and collaboration, comes at a time when China is getting ready to open its 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-30).
Participants at summit emphasized that compatriots across the Strait are all Chinese and the economies on both sides belong to the one Chinese nation.
They noted that the implementation of the 15th Five-Year Plan will create new space for expanding and enhancing industrial cooperation across the Strait.
"No matter how the external environment changes, we must continue to 'join hands' rather than 'let go,' and seek to 'extend chains' instead of breaking them. The more turbulent the situation, the more we must pull together. We will uphold the concept that 'both sides of the Strait are one family,' continuously build a first-class business environment that is market-oriented, law-based, and internationalized, and ensure that policies benefiting Taiwan compatriots and enterprises are fully and swiftly implemented," said Guo Jinlong, president of the Cross-Strait CEO Summit's mainland-based council.
"To expand the domestic consumption market, the mainland plans to upgrade traditional consumption, foster new services, expand service consumption and foster new forms of consumption to promote higher-quality consumption growth. Taiwan businesses should keep pace with this trend, adopt a more strategic mindset, and commit to elevating cooperation and deepening integrated development," said Liu Chao-Shiuan, president of the summit's Taiwan-based council.
This year's convention also featured industry matchmaking events and several thematic forums covering areas of shared interest including artificial intelligence, biotechnology, and cultural innovation. Participants said the recommendations for the 15th Five-Year Plan adopted in late October also chart a direction for cooperation in these fields.
"The 15th Five-Year Plan is closely related to Taiwan, and we hope to integrate into this process together. I also hope there will be more chances or opportunities for people and enterprises from both sides to engage in more exchanges here in the mainland, so they can truly see the opportunities firsthand rather than coming to judgments based on partial information," said Kai Hsiao, Kai Hsiao, deputy general manager of Fansys, an environmental protection company from Taiwan.
"Many large Taiwan enterprises came to the mainland quite early. But now most of those who wish to come are young people as they see opportunities and market potential here. Choosing where to settle and take root is a crucial link for them," said Lei Hong Yi, director-general of the Council for Industrial and Commercial Development in Taiwan.
Since 2013, the annual event has been held over ten times in cities including Nanjing, Taipei, Xiamen, and Kinmen, serving as a vivid reflection of the "both sides of the Strait are one family" spirit.
Attendees from Taiwan at this event also expressed that despite the current complex and severe situation in cross-Strait relations, no matter how much the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) regime restricts or suppresses exchanges, the chains of interaction and communication across the Strait will not be broken.
Cross-Strait CEO Summit opens in Nanjing
