At the age of 59, Liu Hekai from Taiwan made up his mind to come to Pingtan to start a new career, again.

The Taipei-native opened an eatery near Cuiyuan Park on Oct 1 which is dedicated to offering authentic Taiwanese snacks to local residents.

Liu Hekai, a Taiwanese merchant, talks about his business plan in Pingtan, Nov 26. [Photo/pingtan.gov.cn]

"That is what I do in Guangzhou. So I just copy the business mode in Pingtan," he said.

Liu’s life and Pingtan had a crossover two decades ago, when the Taiwanese trading company he worked for opened a department store in Pingtan, and Liu was dispatched to the island county.

"It was the only three-storied department store then in Pingtan. And I came to Pingtan for the first time as assistant to the general manager," he said.

Years later, the company's boss returned to Taiwan with Liu due to physical problems and transferred the operational rights of the store to his business partners in Pingtan.

After about two decades, Pingtan has taken on a much bigger role in cross-Straits communication. It became the first and only national experimental area on the Chinese mainland open to Taiwan and has enjoyed a number of preferential policies in a bid to create the best cost-efficient investment climate for Taiwanese enterprises and merchants.

Liu was told of Pingtan's promising future in 2013, and after several rounds of inspection he finally decided to move here.

"After learning about those incentives for Taiwanese investors I made up my mind, not to mention how close it is from Pingtan to Taiwan."

As an increasing number of Taiwanese merchants are settling in Pingtan for the same reason, and more Taiwanese tourists are travelling to the Chinese mainland by way of Pingtan, Liu said he felt more like he was at home working and living here.

"I often visited the Taiwanese Entrepreneur Association (in Pingtan) and chatted with guys. People help each other."

Running an eatery is just the first step for Liu, who said he planned to set up a trading company soon, engaging in bringing in Taiwan's products to Pingtan.

"I like challenges. I think Pingtan is the right place to realize my dream of expanding my business," he said.