A delegation from the Third Wednesday Club, the largest social enterprise coalition in Taiwan, visited the Pingtan Comprehensive Pilot Zone (PCPZ) in Fujian province on Nov 26.

The delegation is composed of 20 Taiwanese companies, ranging from the financial sector to tourism, high-tech and cultural creation.

The guests visited some important engineering projects and a pioneer park for Taiwanese businesses, and met with local officials to get a better understanding of Pingtan’s development as well as preferential policies – especially in taxation, tourism, banking and modern logistics.

It was the second time for Jason C.S Lin, former non-executive director of the Uni-President China Holdings Ltd, to come to Pingtan; and he was amazed by how tremendously Pingtan has changed.

“I remember last time when I came here was bare land everywhere. Now it is all green. The authorities obviously have put in much effort in improving the ecological environment, which is definitely a good choice,” he said.

Commenting on Pingtan’s opening-up and exploitation, Lin said, “As a ‘Common Homeland’, Pingtan should have a global vision and make full use of those favorable policies to resonate with Taiwan’s free economy demonstration zone.”

Since the establishment of the PCPZ in 2009, Pingtan has been granted a lot of preferential policies from central and provincial authorities. It has also strived to build solid infrastructure conditions to accommodate enterprises.

“I’ve been paying attention to Pingtan for quite a long time; and I have to say that it really took me by surprise this time with the investment climate and incentive. As a high-tech enterprise, we have high expectations here,” said Zhou Shiguang, General Manager of the Chang Chun Plastics Co.

Established in 1990, the Third Wednesday Club is the largest and richest social enterprise association in Taiwan. The total business turnover of its member enterprises accounts for 62 percent of Taiwan’s GDP.