Companies from Taiwan operating in the southeastern coastal city of Xiamen are facing both challenges and opportunities in transforming and upgrading their businesses in order to maintain sustainable growth amid the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Xiamen has long promoted positive exchanges and cooperation between its businesses and those from neighboring Taiwan, and in the wake of the challenges faced by the COVID-19 pandemic, it intends to maintain strong relations and assist Taiwan-based enterprises in continued success.

Mark Agronomy, a Taiwan-based enterprise engaged in horticultural landscape engineering, is one such company transforming its business model in the process of getting back to work.

"At present, production has been fully restored, and our services for customers are gradually recovering," said Chen Daiming, managing director of Mark Agronomics.

Chen said the company returned to work in February, making special arrangements for the Spring Festival holiday as well as the outbreak of the novel coronavirus.

"Over the years we have organized many tree planting activities in Xiamen, however this year we faced unprecedented challenges," said Chen.

"We cooperated with communities and donated saplings to residents as a continuation of the activity," he said. "We also disinfected parks so that a small number of activities could be open to the public."

Chen said the good control of the epidemic in Fujian has made him more confident in the future development of his company, as well as new business opportunities.

"In the wake of the virus outbreak, consumers have a renewed interest in health, we will aim to expand in this field," Chen said.

"In the future, we may develop healthcare products and combine our related experience in biotechnology to introduce medicinal herbs."

Fujushanqiu Trading is a Taiwan-based enterprise producing incense in Xiamen that has witnessed a surge in online sales.

Jin Yufeng, founder of the company, said it has opened online platforms on Tmall and JD.

"Since we resumed work, online sales have continued to increase compared with last year," Jin said.

"The local government has proposed preferential measures such as rent reduction and deferred payment of social security, and we are applying for these. This has also reduced some pressure on our cost expenditure."

Tai Zu Food, producing local snacks from Taiwan, was severely affected by the epidemic due to a drop in sales.

The company is cooperating with major online e-commerce platforms to open up new sales channels.

"Spring Festival is usually our peak season for sales, but due to the impact of the epidemic we didn't sell many products," said Cai Jinde, general manager of the company.

Cai said they are now expanding sales through new online and offline channels. For example, the company publishes a series of product promotions on platforms such as WeChat.

"We are a food company, so we attach great importance to safety and hygiene. We pay close attention to the health of employees on duty, ensure the safety of food sources, and provide customers with peace of mind," Cai said.

Xiamen has implemented a series of measures to help enterprises from Taiwan recover from the impact of the pandemic.

From Feb 12 to 15, Xiamen officials visited 120 enterprises from Taiwan to conduct research on the resumption of work and production.

The local government has provided assistance to each Taiwan enterprise with bespoke policies and tailored services through on-site visits and online promotion.

It has guided key companies from Taiwan including TPV, AU Optronics, Lianxin IC and Yujing Optoelectronics.

To alleviate operating pressure on youth entrepreneurship bases, Xiamen revised its youth entrepreneurship awards and subsidies to expand the benefits to Taiwan youth. Jimei district in the city has introduced four measures to support the employment and entrepreneurship of youth from Taiwan, providing them with rent and transportation subsidies for returning to Xiamen.

Other districts have also issued supporting policies to reduce rent, water and electricity costs for those from Taiwan.