Xinhua News Agency Beijing (Reporters Shang Hao and Wang Chenghao) This year marks the tenth anniversary of the unified branding of China-Europe trains.Chen Binhua, spokesman for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, answered a question at a regular press conference on July 8. He said that China-Europe freight trains, with their advantages of fast timeliness, excellent cost and wide coverage, have increasingly become an important channel for mainland Taiwanese companies to expand markets in Europe and the “Belt and Road Initiative”.Taiwanese companies can use China-Europe freight trains to achieve efficient connections throughout the entire process of raw material imports, parts distribution, and finished product exports, resulting in more stable order delivery, higher turnover efficiency, and faster market expansion.

As an example, he said that Chongqing Taiwanese companies Quanta and Inventec rely on this international logistics channel to deliver goods, shortening the freight time to Europe from nearly two months to 25 days.TPV Group, a Taiwanese company in Fujian, used the "COSCO Star" passenger roller to transport computer accessories from Taichung Port to Xiamen, and then transported them to Europe and other places via the "Taichung-Xiamen-Rongcheng-Europe" train. It became the first Taiwanese cargo in the country to be transported by sea and rail. It reduced the traditional sea transportation time from 40 to 45 days to 18 days, greatly improving logistics efficiency and saving time and costs.As of the end of June this year, the China-Europe Railway Express (Xiamen) has undertaken a total of 418 TEUs of Taiwanese cargo through sea-rail combined transport, with a transport value of RMB 224 million.

Chen Binhua said that in the next step, we will continue to optimize related service guarantees, strengthen customs clearance facilitation, multimodal transportation and customized logistics support, provide Taiwan-funded enterprises with more reliable, more economical and more efficient international logistics solutions, empower industries with channels, promote cooperation with openness, promote the products of Taiwanese enterprises to expand emerging foreign trade markets, and continue to promote cross-strait industrial integration and high-quality development.

In the first half of this year, the overall market value of Taiwan-funded companies listed on the mainland has been trending well.When answering related questions, Chen Binhua pointed out that the “15th Five-Year Plan” outline clearly states that “qualified Taiwan-funded enterprises are encouraged to be listed on the mainland.”Taiwan-funded companies listed on the mainland enjoy the same treatment as mainland companies.In recent years, more and more Taiwan-funded companies have chosen to list on the mainland and take root for development. The mainland stock market has become an important channel for Taiwan-funded companies to directly raise funds, expand their business scale, and enhance their brand image.So far, 67 Taiwanese companies have been listed on the mainland.We will continue to provide good services to the majority of Taiwanese businessmen and enterprises.It is hoped that Taiwanese businessmen and enterprises will fully seize the new opportunities in the mainland capital market, deeply explore the mainland market, and achieve dual improvements in their own scale and competitiveness.

At the press conference, Chen Binhua responded to inquiries and introduced that we have always attached great importance to and actively supported the economic and social development of Kinmen, and constantly take measures to enhance the interests and well-being of Kinmen folks.The water supply project from the coastal areas of Fujian to Kinmen officially opened on August 5, 2018. It has been providing water for nearly eight years. As of July 1 this year, the cumulative water supply to Kinmen exceeded 50 million tons, accounting for 87% of the total daily water supply of the Kinmen Water Plant. The water quality qualification rate has remained stable at 100% all year round.At present, the average daily water supply from the coastal areas of Fujian to Kinmen is about 22,000 tons, which continues to meet the water needs of Kinmen people, effectively protects Kinmen’s groundwater, and solves urgent needs and worries for Kinmen’s people’s livelihood security, construction and development, and is warmly welcomed by Kinmen people.

He said, "Both sides of the Taiwan Strait are one family and drink from the same river." The water supply project from Fujian's coastal areas to Kinmen has become a model for cross-Strait cooperation in the field of people's livelihood.We will continue to deliver safe, high-quality, clean water to Kinmen, using the living water of the river as a link to benefit the livelihood of people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.