Favorable investment policies at a new economic zone on the western side of the Taiwan Strait demonstrated a goodwill of the mainland for Taiwan, Fujian governor Su Shulin said Sunday.

Pingtan, a Fujian island that was designated as a pilot area for cross-strait cooperation in July 2009, is now open to the world for investment, said Su, who is visiting Taiwan.

The Pingtan experiment zone has enjoyed a slew of preferential policies from the government. Aside from favorable land, financial and taxation policies, Pingtan also imposes looser restriction on professionals from Taiwan and Taiwanese media.

Its geographical closeness to Taiwan has been the best advantage for Pingtan to develop, Su said.

With an area of about 324 square km, Pingtan is the closet Chinese mainland island to Taiwan.

According to Su, the mainland aims to channel 60 billion yuan (9.53 billion U.S. dollars) to develop the zone this year, targeting an overall investment of 250 billion yuan during the 2011-2015 period.

Su is leading a delegation on a five-day trip to Taiwan. He said he believed it takes no more than ten years for Pingtan to develop from a place with no industrial infrastructure into a modern city.

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