The Chinese Ministry of Commerce has approved a mainland company's investment plan in Taiwan. The approval marks a historic breakthrough of decades-long hopes for two-way investments across the Taiwan Straits.

The Chinese investor is Newland Computer Holdings. The company is located in Fujian Province, the nearest mainland province to Taiwan. Newland bought a 58 percent stake in Taiwan's Dipu Tech for 280 thousand euros thereby becoming the company's controlling shareholder.

Sun Yali, General Manager of Fujian Newland Computer Holdings said "Now we do not have to go through a third party in order to receive technical support and product R & D. We prefer obtaining these through direct investment."

The mainland company say the aim of the investment is to acquire advanced technology and to upgrade management.

Guo Dong, Assistant General Manager of Fujian Newland Computer Holdings said "We want to learn from the closest market. That is Taiwan. And this is the advantage of companies in Fujian. We enjoy favorable government policies since we are located on the West Bank of the Taiwan Straits."

Experts say mainland investment in Taiwan will help the island's economy prosper and increase the confidence of international investors in the market. The long-awaited move was agreed during the third Cross-Straits talks in April.

(CCTV July 31, 2009)