The proposal to build an economic zone on the west coast of the Taiwan Strait meets with wide support at the ongoing meeting of China's top advisory body.

The proposed economic zone will have east China's Fujian Province as the mainstay and also include a few neighboring economic entities.

"The zone would facilitate the integration of economic resources in southeast China and make this area a stronger economic entity. It would also facilitate exchanges and cooperation across the Taiwan Straits" Yang Bangjie said here at the Sixth Standing Committee Meeting of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).

An inspection group of the CPPCC National Committee toured Fujian and two cities of Guangdong, namely Shantou and Chaozhou, this May and June on the subject and submitted a report to the ongoing meeting. The report points out a series of favorable conditions for establishing an economic zone on the west coast of the Taiwan Strait.

The report says besides geographic proximity, the region shares the same ancestral origins, languages, folk customs and cultural traditions with Taiwan.

Non-governmental economic and cultural exchanges across the Strait have been increasingly active in recent years.

From 1981 to January of 2004, contractual investment from Taiwan exceeded 14 billion US dollars in Fujian. Of this, more than 10 billion dollars had been committed. Trade between the two sides reached more than 31 billion dollars, making Taiwan the third biggest trade partner of Fujian.

Yang Sunxi, a member from the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, said construction of the proposed economic zone should take the Yangtze River Delta economic circle in the north and the Pear River Delta economic circle in the south in mind. If an interaction mechanism is established among the trio, a greater economic circle in south China would emerge.

He also suggested building an express railway line as soon as possible to link up the three economic belts.

Other members suggested that the three economic belts should seek to dovetail their industrial development, market development and infrastructure so as to strengthen the area's economic strength as a whole.

The increasing attention paid to the economic zone on the west coast of the Taiwan Strait reflects not only the economic growth potential here, but also the special political significance.

As the report of the CPPCC National Committee stresses, the gradual unfolding of the blueprint of the economic zone on the west coast of the Taiwan Strait has a two-fold significance under the current cross-Strait situation: facilitating economic growth and reunification of the country. It makes not only economic sensein general, but also special political sense.