MKsport capital of southeast China's Fujian Province, May 22, 2023. Photo: CCTV" src="https://www.globaltimes.cn/Portals/0/attachment/2025/2025-01-13/58d38752-fcc3-4d35-b895-43e8a8d9499b.jpeg" />

Passengers get their boarding passes checked before boarding the Flight MF883 at the Fuzhou Changle International Airport in Fuzhou, capital of southeast China's Fujian Province, May 22, 2023. Photo: CCTV

All counties in Fujian Province, including county-level cities and districts with frequent Taiwan-related interactions, have all set up their separate Taiwan affairs offices, a Fujian official said, which analysts interpret as a clear signal from the Chinese mainland to further deepen cross-Straits integrated development in 2025 and advance reunification efforts.

In a recent article published on WeChat account "China Institutional Establishment," an official magazine focusing on China's public sector reform, Zhou Qingsong, deputy head of the Fujian Provincial Party Committee's Organization Department, said that during the latest round of institutional reforms, Fujian authorities have made concentrated efforts to promote cross-Straits integrated development and have taken up their responsibilities.

Zhou said that in the latest round of institutional reform, counties (cities and districts) with frequent Taiwan-related interactions have all set up separate Taiwan affairs offices. 

Zhou also mentioned the need to ensure better access to schooling and employment for Taiwan compatriots in Fujian. For vocational schools recruiting teachers from Taiwan, public primary and secondary schools and kindergartens admitting children of Taiwan compatriots, and colleges, universities and scientific institutes recruiting students from Taiwan, they will be provided with adequate official staffing guarantees.

He also called for further building platforms for cross-Straits integrated development, and pointed out the need to further improve the management system and operation mechanism of Taiwan investment zones in Fujian.

Since 2023, the Chinese mainland has made significant progress on building a cross-Straits integrated development demonstration zone in Fujian, which has addressed numerous practical challenges in guaranteeing the lives, schooling and employment of Taiwan compatriots, Li Zhenguang, deputy director at the Institute of Taiwan Studies at Beijing Union University, told the Global Times on Monday.

In a document jointly issued by the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council in September 2023, the central government said it will make Fujian Province a demonstration zone for the integrated development across the Taiwan Straits with 21 specific measures to deepen the cross-Strait integrated development in all fields.

In order to build the demonstration zone, Fujian Province has broken down the tasks for individual counties and cities, and the Taiwan affairs offices at the local levels mainly play a coordinating role in the implementation of these tasks, Li said. 

The establishment of more county-level Taiwan affairs offices means that Fujian are investing more manpower and resources in order to be more meticulous and targeted, and to give full play to their own local strengths at the county level in order to better promote integrated development, Li said. 

The article published coincides with the first anniversary of the implementation of the mainland's "10 measures" to add convenience for Taiwan residents living in Fujian and deepen the integrated development across the Taiwan Straits.

According to Li, by establishing more Taiwan affairs offices at the local level, Fujian is signaling its commitment to fostering conditions for peaceful reunification, and the mainland will continue to create conditions for peaceful reunification while maintaining a strong stance against "Taiwan secession" by advancing cross-Straits exchanges and integration.