Western Taiwan Straits Economic Zone
Western Taiwan Straits Economic Zone or West Coast Economic Zone () is the proposed economic development zone for the economic region west of the Taiwan Straits by the Fujian government and the Chinese central government. This include the coastal cities of Xiamen, Zhangzhou, Quanzhou and Fuzhou along Fujian province. The proposed economic zone aims to integrate the economies, transport, infrastructure, policies from the coastal cities west of the Taiwan Straits for competitiveness, social development, increased and strengthened economic cooperation with Taiwan. History The ideas of the economic zone has been around since 2001, when Fujian province was undergoing strong economic growth and the Fujian provincial government thought it needed to be competitive with other economic zones such as the Pearl River Delta and the Yangtze River Delta economic zones. The proposal was also supported by the central government in order to facilitate political and economic relationships across the Taiwan Straits. The economic zone will help Fujian catch up to Taiwan's economic development. The economic zone would "promote the better use of resources of the economic belt in East China and enhance its overall economic strength," Wang Xiaojing, the then executive vice-governor of Fujian in 2005. In 2008, Mainland China through