The international financial crisis has caused huge impact on cross-strait economy and also brought new opportunities for development of cross-strait economic cooperation. Cao Xiaoheng, head of Taiwan Economic Research Institute of Nankai University, recently presented this view in Symposium on Cross-strait Relations which was held in Nanjing.

Cao Xiaoheng said that after the global financial crisis, the large economy such as United States and Europe went into recession, while the mainland's economy maintained a high growth, and the mainland's economic status further enhanced in the Asia-Pacific regions as well as the world. At the same time, as the recession of export-oriented economy, the mainland would turn to expand the domestic market. "This will be an epoch-making change, for the mainland will no longer just world factory, but become world market", Cao said, which will bring a totally different future for the cross-strait economic cooperation.

Cao Xiaoheng forecast that after the financial crisis, the foreign trade of mainland is hard to maintain the over 20% growth rate. Besides the trade protection of other countries and appreciation of RMB, another reason for decrease in growth rate was the export strategy of mainland will be changed from exporting labor-intensive industrial products to products with high added value and technology.