The Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council held its first regular press conference on January 13, 2021, announcing four cross-strait exchange bases newly approved by the Taiwan Affairs Office of the CPC Central Committee and the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council. The Huai'an Grand Canal Cultural Belt is on the list.
In 2020 Huai'an constructed the Huai'an Grand Canal Cultural Belt by integrating the Liyunhe Canal and the Cultural Belt of Ancient Huaihe River and applied for cross-strait exchange base.
The Huai'an Grand Canal Cultural Belt has held more than 60 exchange activities of various tyes between Huai'an and Taiwan, including Huai'an-Xinbei smart community dialogue, cross-strait college students' canal culture camp, cross-strait youth elite training camp, etc., attracting more than 6000 participants from different walks of life in Taiwan.
