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Taiwan has become one of the most important sources of investment for South China's Guangdong Province.

So-much-so that the mainland province is now stepping up efforts to encourage business people in Taiwan to play a more active role in the economic development of the region.

Addressing the opening ceremony of the 2005 Guangdong-Taiwan Economic, Technological and Trade Seminar, Huang Huahua, provincial governor of Guangdong, said that investment from Taiwan ranks second in the province, with only Hong Kong investing more.

The provincial government will take effective measures to encourage more Taiwan business people to become involved in the province's high-tech industrial development, particularly in the booming towns of the Pearl River Delta, Huang added.

The province will also encourage Taiwan business people to invest in labour-intensive projects, projects related to resource development, agricultural product processing and tourism in the eastern and western parts of the province as well as in rural areas elsewhere, said Huang.

Official statistics indicate that Guangdong had set up 18,710 Taiwan-invested enterprises by the end of March, involving a contractual capital input of US$37.33 billion, topping any other province or province-level municipality in the mainland.

The province's trade with Taiwan was worth US$30.19 billion in 2004, accounting for 8.5 per cent of the province's total, or 38.5 per cent of the mainland's trade with Taiwan last year.

The city of Jiangmen is also aiming to secure capital from Taiwan for its mechanical and electrical industry, one of the city's pillar industries.

The city is holding a three-day mechanical and electrical industrial fair at the same time as the Guangdong-Taiwan seminar.

Several Taiwan investors told China Daily that the cross-Straits relationship will hopefully turn for the better, and are confident of a rosier future for their business in the mainland.