Trade across the Taiwan Strait reached $221.8 billion in the first seven months of 2026, up 26.5 percent on the same period a year earlier, according to official mainland data. Mainland exports to Taiwan jumped 31.6 percent to $62.17 billion. Imports from the island rose 24.7 percent to $159.63 billion.
Chen Binhua, spokesman for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, said the numbers showed “tight economic bonds” and the resilience of supply chains on both sides. Political relations are another matter. Beijing blames Taiwan’s Democratic Progressive Party authorities for smearing its economic goodwill, and Chen accused Taipei of obstructing mainland investment out of partisan interest.
The pomelo as a trade story
Beijing’s showcase for the trade is a fruit. In 2022 China’s customs administration suspended imports of Taiwan citrus, pomelos included, over pests and pesticide residues. Growers in counties such as Hualien then carried out pest control and quality fixes, and the mainland resumed imports from registered orchards and packing plants in 2024, widening access further in August.
On September 22, ahead of the Mid-Autumn and National Day holidays, a promotion in Shenzhen with more than a dozen booths let visitors taste Wendan pomelos. Hsu Fu-hsien, president of the Taiwan Merchant Association in Shenzhen, said mainland preferential policies let the fruit arrive fresh. Roy Wang, a Taiwanese businessman who has worked in Shenzhen for nine years, said a pomelo from his hometown “brings a true taste of home.”
Those policies trace to 10 exchange-promoting measures the mainland published on April 12, tied to the 1992 Consensus and opposition to “Taiwan independence.” Since then, Taiwan orchards, packing plants and food firms have registered on the mainland, helped by fast customs clearance. Taiwan’s own agricultural authorities say farm exports to the mainland rose 11.3 percent in the first half of the year, while shipments to the United States and Japan fell. At the Straits Forum in Xiamen in June, mainland buyers signed purchase agreements covering products such as pineapple custard apples and tea.
Tang Hua, an associate professor of cross-Strait relations at Xiamen University, said the mainland is the closest, largest and most stable market for Taiwan’s farm goods. Short shipping times and a vast consumer base make sales predictable, she said.
Business beyond farming
September’s China International Fair for Trade in Services in Beijing and the 26th China International Fair for Investment and Trade in Xiamen both drew Taiwanese firms. The Xiamen fair had a 1,000-square-meter cross-Strait pavilion with companies in semiconductors, precision machinery and biopharmaceuticals. Lai Tsai-ta, co-founder of the AI and nanomaterials startup METiS TechBio, which listed in Hong Kong in May, said Xiamen’s location and biopharmaceutical ecosystem helped his business. Weng Ying-min, who runs a family food company, brought beef noodles aimed at younger mainland shoppers and told Taiwan’s young people to “come over to see for themselves.”
Peng Qing’en, deputy director of the Taiwan Affairs Office, said the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026 to 2030) would keep creating opportunities for Taiwan businesses on the mainland.
The traffic is not one-way in theory only. Chin Yu-feng, an incense maker from Kaohsiung who has lived in Xiamen for 12 years, said he hopes mainland products reach Taiwan because consumers would benefit. That has been difficult. Taiwan’s regulators have imposed stricter requirements on mainland companies, and Luckin Coffee’s entry has been repeatedly delayed by structural reviews. Similar curbs cover Xiaohongshu (RedNote), river-snail rice noodles and the motorcycle maker ZxMoto.
