The China Xiamen Machinery and Electronics Exhibition (CXMEE), co-organized by the mainland and Taiwan, is about to welcome its first spring following the historic opening of direct postal, commercial, air and shipping links across the Taiwan Straits. As the largest and a highly influential economic and trade event across the Taiwan Straits, CXMEE has been playing an increasingly important role in the collaboration and development of machinery and electronics industries across the Taiwan Straits.

At present, the international financial crisis is impacting upon both the global capital market and the global physical economy, which is in turn adversely influencing the economies across the Taiwan Straits; as a result, small and medium-sized enterprises are encountering unprecedented hardships. In order to cope with the serious challenges arising from the international financial crisis, complement the mutual advantages across the Taiwan Straits, and boost the competitive strengths of the SMEs across the Taiwan Straits, at the upcoming CXMEE, the Association of Economy and Trade across the Taiwan Straits (AETATS) will team up with the Cross-Straits Common Market Foundation, Xiamen University and the CXMEE Organizing Committee to host a cross-straits economic and trade forum themed around “expanding financial collaboration and serving SMEs across the Taiwan Straits”. The forum will invite influential representatives from industries, governments and academia across the Taiwan Straits to discuss a range of important topics, including building a fostering investment environment for SMEs, consolidating financial resources, facilitating SMEs to expand their shares of the markets across the Taiwan Straits and of the international market, and enabling SMEs to play a greater role in the economic development across the Taiwan Straits.

2009 marks the fifth anniversary of the founding of AETATS. Over the past five years, AETATS has been dedicated to promoting economic exchange and cooperation and facilitating direct commercial links across the Taiwan Straits. It has also forged extensive ties with non-governmental organizations and industrial and commercial groups in Taiwan and expended vigorous efforts to promote economic exchange and cooperation, facilitate direct commercial links, advance trade and investment, strengthen the interaction between people, organize economic and trade tours, host forums, seminars and economic and technological exhibitions, and safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of businesses and individuals across the Taiwan Straits. In light of the positive development of relations across the Taiwan Straits, AETATS will continue to seize opportunities, fulfill its mission, and work with the industrial and commercial communities across the Taiwan Straits to make new contributions to the normalization of economic and trade relations and promote common economic prosperity across the Taiwan Straits.

Last, on behalf of AETATS, I wish the 13^th CXMEE a great success.