Businesspeople from the mainland and Taiwan are optimistic they will see improved cross-Straits cooperation in the emerging and modern-service industries.

Those industries have enormous market potential in both the global and domestic arena, said Wang Liaoping, president of the Association of Economy and Trade Across the Taiwan Straits, at the 2013 Cross-Straits Economy and Trade Forum on Friday.

The forum is part of the ongoing 17th China Xiamen Machinery & Electronics Exhibition, which runs through Monday.