A parallel session of the 2019 Zhejiang Taiwan Cooperation Week opened in Ningbo, East China's Zhejiang province on Sept 18.

Qiu Dongyao, mayor of Ningbo, attended the conference and gave a briefing on Ningbo's economic and social development and its ties with Taiwan.

Ningbo and Taiwan have been maintaining close economic links, he said, revealing that Ningbo is a prime investment destination for Taiwan enterprises in Zhejiang, while Taiwan is the largest source of imports for Ningbo.

The city is accelerating construction on industrial clusters and striving to become a national demonstration area for the high-quality development of the manufacturing industry, he added.

The mayor expressed hope that more Taiwan businesses will invest in Ningbo and pledged to continue optimizing the business environment and supporting the growth of Taiwan-funded enterprises in Ningbo.

Jiang Xiaoyan, former vice chairman of the Chinese Kuomintang, said that he was amazed by Ningbo's economic and social development in recent years, adding that he will continue working to boost cooperation and exchanges between Ningbo and Taiwan.

Six investment projects worth 3.5 billion yuan ($522.3 million) were agreed upon by Ningbo and Taiwan businesses on the sidelines of the conference, focusing on areas such as intelligent manufacturing, big health, green petrochemical and culture.

According to the agreements, the Fenghua district government and Taiwan Hetong Tech Co will jointly construct a big health industrial base.

With an investment of roughly 1.5 billion yuan, the industrial base is set to occupy 200 mu (13.3 hectares) in Fenghua district.