CPPCC member calls young people from Taiwan to jointly build the motherland

Young people from Taiwan are needed to jointly build the motherland as the Chinese nation enters an era of great development, said Jiang Erxiong, a member of the National Committee for the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, on Monday.

"We warmly welcome young people from Taiwan to chase their dreams, build their dreams and realize their dreams on the mainland," Jiang said ahead of the second plenary meeting of the fifth session of the 13th CPPCC National Committee.

Jiang, who is the daughter of a Taiwan family that settled on the mainland decades ago, is also president of the Fujian Federation of Taiwan Compatriots.

She said that in recent years, she has witnessed many young people from Taiwan see their dreams come true on the mainland, including Chen Wencheng, who comes from Zhanghua, Taiwan.

Chen, now a PE teacher at Peking University, came to Beijing for postgraduate studies in 2011.

"He keeps sending good news about himself to me over the past decade. For example, he successfully applied for a doctorate, he got married, and he has a daughter," Jiang said. "I'm really happy for him every time."

According to Jiang, when Beijing hosted the Summer Olympics in 2008, Chen was majoring in physical education in Taiwan and he hoped that one day he could get involved in a major sports event on the mainland.

"His dream came true. He became a city volunteer for the Beijing Winter Olympics this year and provided volunteer services," she said.

Jiang said that more and more young people from Taiwan are settling down on the mainland in response to preferential policies benefiting people from Taiwan.

In Fujian province, there are as many as 40,000 young people from Taiwan now living in the East China province, she said.

"The era today is one featuring the great development and accomplishments of the Chinese nation. The motherland will always provide strong backing for young people from Taiwan, and we need young people from both sides of the Taiwan Straits to jointly build the motherland," Jiang said.