XIAMEN, June 16 (Xinhua) — Hsu Po-lin, an entrepreneur who hails from Tainan in the Taiwan region and established a medical device company in Suzhou, a Chinese mainland city, attributed her success to a strategic decision of “starting up business in the optimal location and at an opportune moment.”
“We are working with a group of diligent people to safeguard people’s health,” said Hsu, recounting her experience on the sidelines of the ongoing 16th Straits Forum in Xiamen, east China’s Fujian Province.
After completing her studies abroad focusing on artificial hearts and organs, Hsu returned to China in 2013 and was appointed as a special term professor at Soochow University in Suzhou.
With the support of the university, Hsu founded magAssist CO., Ltd in 2017, a startup dedicated to the research and development of extracorporeal life support devices, such as Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO), an instrument often used in the treatment of patients in critical conditions.
In the run-up to the 19th Asian Games held in China’s Hangzhou last year, the ECMO developed by Hsu’s company outperformed other imported models, securing the bid for the event.
Hsu’s connection to the mainland began nearly 30 years ago when her parents traveled to Shanghai to pursue opportunities in advanced motor manufacturing, aligning with the wave of the reform and opening-up drive.
Benefiting from the mainland’s policies and the rapid economic growth, her parents, along with other “first-generation Taiwan businesspeople,” saw their businesses thrive. “My father told me to return to the mainland for career development in the future,” Hsu said.
Three decades later, Hsu saw the vast potential of the mainland market. She emphasized the significant governmental support for the high-end medical equipment sector, a conducive business environment, and a thriving capital market as key factors in her decision-making.
The mainland has been committed to improving preferential policies for Taiwan compatriots and enterprises and has rolled out a series of measures to help Taiwan youth pursue personal development on the mainland.
Since its inception in 2009, the Straits Forum has witnessed the announcement of 139 preferential policies aimed at enhancing cross-Strait exchanges and cooperation. These policies span a range of areas, including air services, travel permits, employment and investment.
“The favorable policies and benefits extended by the mainland to our Taiwan compatriots resemble the nurturing care and support of parents toward their children,” Hsu said.
Hsu added that since the establishment of her company, they have received governmental subsidies, bank loans, and public capital totaling nearly 1 billion yuan (about 140.5 million U.S. dollars).
In April this year, megaAssist’s full maglev extracorporeal ventricular assist device became the first of its kind in China to receive approval from the National Medical Products Administration.
“In a vivid way, my own family embodies the fact that the two sides of the Strait belong to one family and will surely be reunified in the future,” said Hsu, calling on more young Taiwan people to leverage the opportunities of the times and play an active role in cross-Strait integrated development.