Exports of Taiwan liquor from mainland thrive

Exports of Taiwan kaoliang liquor from the Chinese mainland boomed last year, with experts attributing some of the success to cross-Strait business cooperation.

Founded in 2022 and located in Lianjiang in Fuzhou, Fujian province, Jackson's Winery (Fujian), the first joint venture winery between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan in Fuzhou, exported more than 1 million bottles of kaoliang liquor worth more than 100 million yuan ($14 million) last year, mainly to the United States, Japan, South Korea and some Southeast Asian countries.

As the nearest mainland county to Taiwan-administered Matsu Island, Lianjiang has good water quality and is suitable for growing the sorghum — kaoliang in Chinese — used in making the distilled liquor, since the two places share similar climate, soil and environmental conditions, said Lin Zhuohua, an entrepreneur from Lianjiang and one of the founders of the winery.

"Making kaoliang liquor in Lianjiang not only guarantees quality, but also saves production costs and increases the export competitiveness," Lin said. "In addition, the unique location advantages help to economize on the cost of transportation, as Lianjiang is close to two major ports, Mawei port and Jiangyin port."

He said 90 percent of the winery's production was exported, but it also planned to explore the domestic market.

Wei Meifeng, the other founder from Taiwan, said transplanting the Taiwan kaoliang liquor making technique to Lianjiang was a good decision, because the liquor culture of the two sides has the same root.

"More importantly, the preferential policies to woo Taiwan business and residents introduced by the mainland in recent years facilitated exchanges and communication across the Taiwan Strait," Wei said.

The Chinese mainland and Taiwan signed an Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement in 2010 that offered preferential tax rates to products selling across the Strait and targeted the establishment of a long-standing mechanism of business cooperation in goods and services for both sides.

In 2018, China rolled out 31 measures to promote cross-Strait economic and cultural exchanges and cooperation, aimed at providing equal treatment to Taiwan-funded enterprises in investment and economic cooperation and encouraging Taiwan compatriots to study, work, live and start businesses on the mainland.

Fujian's provincial government, and those in other provinces, also formulated detailed regulations and tailor-made policies to foster a better business environment for people from Taiwan.

"After traveling around the world, Taiwan businesspeople found that the Chinese mainland was, is, and I believe will be the best place for investment," Lee Chenghung, president of the Association of Taiwan Investment Enterprises on the Mainland, said at a seminar last month on matching Taiwan investment with the mainland's needs.

On a visit to Lianjiang last month, Wang Zhongming, head of Matsu county, said it was "high time for cross-Strait integration and development", adding that Matsu plans to deepen cooperation with the winery to get easier access to the domestic and overseas markets and build a win-win platform for trade cooperation between the two sides.