Third-generation Taiwan compatriot dedicated to building bridge between mainland, Taiwan youth

A National People's Congress (NPC) deputy from east China's coastal Zhejiang Province with Taiwan root has dedicated himself to the cause of bridge building for contact between mainland and Taiwan youth.

Tao Jun, also full-time vice president of the Zhejiang Federation of Taiwan Compatriots, is a third-generation Taiwan compatriot who was born and raised on the mainland.

As an NPC deputy, Tao does a lot to hear voices of Taiwan residents in Zhejiang Province and works to bring people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait together closer.

As Tao sees it, the biggest challenge is a lack of effective communication channels for Taiwan residents to better understand the mainland.

"Many of our favorable policies here in the mainland, including those on employment and business start-ups, cannot be well known by Taiwan residents. So they couldn't know the information. The current cross-Strait situation is complicated and severe and the Democratic Progressive Party authorities in Taiwan have set a lot of communication barriers preventing people from learning about the real situation in the mainland," Tao said in an interview with China Global Television Network prior to the fourth session of the 14th NPC -- China's national legislature -- in March.

Breaking through the barriers set up by the Democratic Progressive Party authorities in Taiwan is a key focus of Tao's proposals to be submitted to the annual NPC session this year. He encourages young people working at Taiwan companies and associations to use their strategies to publish information on social media such as LINE.

Though he does not speak with a Taiwan accent, his family root gives him a strong sense of belonging within the Taiwan community.

"Although I am a third-generation compatriot born on the mainland, our family ties remain unchanged. I have always cared about our compatriots in Taiwan and the development of cross-Strait relations," Tao said.

There are 13 deputies from Taiwan in the NPC. This year's annual session of the NPC will open on March 5 in Beijing.

Third-generation Taiwan compatriot dedicated to building bridge between mainland, Taiwan youth

BMW AG Chairman Oliver Zipse said the automaker will debut its first Neue Klasse model designed specifically for China at the Beijing Auto Show, showcasing a new fusion of German engineering and Chinese digital innovation.

Ties between the two sides are in the spotlight this week as German Chancellor Friedrich Merz arrived in China on Wednesday for a two-day official visit, his first since taking office last May. Zipse is among senior executives from around 30 leading German companies accompanying the chancellor on the trip.

"It is the most Chinese car we've ever built, tailored specifically to the needs and wishes of our Chinese customers," said Zipse in an exclusive interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN) on Tuesday.

Zipse stressed that the car's innovations stem directly from BMW's deep partnerships with Chinese tech leaders.

"It features many innovations from our partnerships with leading Chinese players as, for example, battery cells come from CATL, autonomous driving stack is jointly developed with Momenta, and the large language model for the BMW Intelligent Personal Assistant is the result of our longstanding partnership with Alibaba," he said.

He presented these partnerships as a blueprint for the future of the global auto industry.

"These features are a perfect example of cross-border collaboration, joint pioneering spirit and mutual openness," Zipse said.

The 2026 Beijing Auto Show is scheduled to be held in Beijing from April 24 to May 3.

BMW to unveil China-tailored Neue Klasse at Beijing Auto Show