China's success story as a world powerhouse definitely wasn't a solo act. The economy has flourished in the past three decades with foreign investment, which, by governmental definition, includes money from Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.

Taiwanese businessmen were among the first to move factories to the mainland. Today, they are swiftly starting to shift to lower cost countries, in particular, Vietnam. Nevertheless, the indispensable role Taiwan has played and continues to play in the development of the Chinese plastics industry can't be overlooked.

That's why I give kudos to Adsale for planning a Taiwan-mainland pre-show conference for the 2009 Chinaplas. The one-day conference started in 2006 with a China-India theme and continued this year with a highlight on the cooperation between China and the United States. The Taiwan deal will be finalized in September when the Adsale Group leads a trade delegation to the Taipei Plas show. On a side note, the Taiwanese Association of Machinery Industry, organizer of the Taipei show, called off a press conference that was supposed to promote Taipei Plas at the Chinaplas show. Let's hope they've had more companies sign up than they can take.

Plastics News, for the first time, will exhibit at Taipei Plas this year.