(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-10-15 22:09

BEIJING -- Taipei-born businessman Lee Chi-hung refuses to be referred to as a "Taiwan businessman".

The curio merchant has contracted 200 hectares of land to grow tea in his ancestral home of Fujian Province, and says this is where he belongs.

Right now, the 46-year-old is plucking tea in Yongfu town, preparing for a pre-Olympics tea exposition in Beijing next month to promote the traditional Chinese beverage.

Yongfu town, where an agricultural park established last year to boost cooperation between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan, is home to 30 Taiwan-funded businesses and more than 300 Taiwan people.

Lee has become a permanent resident in the town to take care of his tea farm and chip in local public welfare programs: to finance the building of road, donate to school dropouts and preserve ancient trees.

The mainland's endeavors to promote cross-Straits cooperation in recent years have cemented the bond between the mainlanders and the Taiwanese, said Lee, whose father left for Taiwan at 19. "My father has always wished to do something for the town people, and I'm here to fulfill his dream."

At Monday's opening meeting of the 17th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), Hu Jintao made goodwill gestures to the Taiwan compatriots. "We understand, trust and care about our compatriots in Taiwan, and we will, therefore, continue to implement and enrich the policies and measures that benefit them, protect their legitimate rights and interests ... and support economic development on the west shore of the Straits in Fujian Province and in other areas where Taiwan investment is concentrated."

The statement is well received by Lee and other Taiwanese people in Yongfu. "Today's world is a global village and I hope there's no more barrier between the mainland and Taiwan."

Lee said he is "lucky" to expand business on the mainland, taking advantage of its fast-growing economy.

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