Experts hail mainland's new cross-Strait policies, measures as boost for dialogue, youth exchanges, tourism

Scholars and industry insiders have spoken highly of Chinese mainland's newly announced package of 10 measures to enhance cross-Strait engagement, saying the initiatives could strengthen political dialogue, expand youth exchanges and spur tourism recovery.

The measures, unveiled Sunday as a delegation led by Cheng Li-wun, chairwoman of the Chinese Kuomintang (KMT) party, concluded its six-day mainland visit, focus on building institutionalized channels for party-to-party communication, expanding youth interaction, and resuming individual travel from Shanghai and Fujian to Taiwan.

Atop the 10 initiatives announced by the mainland on Sunday is a proposal to explore a regular communication mechanism between the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the KMT party.

The CPC and the KMT will, on the common political foundation of adhering to the 1992 Consensus and opposing "Taiwan secession," take "stronger measures" to promote cross-Strait exchanges, interaction and integration, according to a statement released by the Taiwan Work Office of the CPC Central Committee.

"In the past decade, although there has been some interaction between the CPC and the KMT party, it has not been regular or institutionalized. If restored, I believe they would greatly help communication across the Strait and promote cross-Strait cooperation," said Li Zhengguang, a professor of the Institute of Taiwan Studies at Beijing Union University.

According to the measures, the mainland will move to resume regular direct passenger flights across the Strait, including routes to and from Urumqi, Xi'an, Harbin, Kunming and Lanzhou, and will promote the resumption of individual tours for Shanghai and Fujian residents to Taiwan.

Zhou Weihong, deputy general manager of Spring Airlines, a Shanghai-based travel agency, said the resumption of cross-Strait tourism would directly boost local employment and Taiwan's economy. "Currently, we operate eight flights from Shanghai every week -- five to Taipei and three to Kaohsiung. Furthermore, we plan to add new routes from Ningbo in early July," she said.

Li expressed confidence that the package would deliver tangible benefits to the people of Taiwan.

"In theory, these 10 measures will benefit compatriots on both sides of the Strait, especially the people of Taiwan. The package will bring significant support to Taiwan's tourism, agriculture, and fisheries," Li said.

However, he cautioned that implementation may face resistance from the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) authorities, stressing that joint efforts from people on both sides will be needed to ensure the measures to take effect.

Experts hail mainland's new cross-Strait policies, measures as boost for dialogue, youth exchanges, tourism

Flowers with novel appearances drew strong interest from visitors at this year's Hortiflorexpo IPM Beijing, which ran from April 10 to 12.

With more Chinese consumers seeking products that offer emotional value, expo visitors were noticing not only traditional, beautiful flowers, but also those newer, more distinctive varieties.

Among the many blooms on display, those featuring widely recognized icons stood out as especially eye catching.

"This is the Psychopsis papilio, also known as 'Monkey King'. You can see that its flower has three tendrils, which vividly resembles the pheasant feathers worn by Monkey King," said Zha Niyi, an exhibitor, introducing the flower commonly known as the butterfly orchid.

Monkey King, or Sun Wukong, is from a classic Chinese novel, Journey to the West, written by Wu Cheng'en during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). Monkey King has stood as one of the most iconic symbols of Chinese culture, embodying generations of Chinese people's imagination of a hero.

This growing consumer interest is also evident in the flowers' sales volumes. In 2025, China’s fresh-cut flower exports surged by over 40 percent, surpassing 200 million U.S. dollars for the first time. Over the past five years, the country's total flower exports have exceeded two billion U.S. dollars.

"This demonstrates that China's flower industry has a solid export base and strong production capacity with the approach of high-quality development," said Zhang Li, deputy director of the Market Circulation Branch of the China Flower Association.

As Chinese consumers become more willing to pay for experiences that generate positive emotions, visitors at the exhibition were increasingly drawn to flowers with cute names and auspicious meanings.

Consumers' growing desire for emotional fulfillment is also driving the wider development in the flower-consumption market. "A single flower can give rise to an entire industry and a whole sector," said Wang Caiyun, president of the Osmanthus Branch of the China Flower Association.

China has grown into the world's largest flower producer, a major consumer, and a leading trading country. Its flower economy now delivers annual output worth more than 520 billion yuan (about 76.16 billion U.S. dollars), driving employment and income growth for more than 220,000 business entities.

Novel flowers catch eyes at Hortiflorexpo IPM Beijing