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　　Some 49% of Taiwan residents have a positive attitude toward the Chinese mainland, 4.4% more compared with last year, marking the first time that the attitude of residents was mostly positive, a recent poll showed.

　　According to a poll released on June 17 by a local foundation in Taiwan, 8% of the surveyed residents have “very good impressions” toward the mainland, while 40.8% say it is “good.” Yu Ying-lung, chief of the foundation, regards it “a historical turn” and “unprecedented phenomenon,” local media Chinatimes.com reported.

　　Local residents who still hold a negative attitude toward the mainland make up 44% of the total, a 3.5% decrease compared with last year.

　　Yu said that over half of the surveyed Taiwan residents aged 25 to 54 with a higher education background showed a positive attitude, suggesting that the growing prosperity of the mainland in comparison with Taiwan’s long-term stagnancy could be a reason.

　　More and more graduates in Taiwan are seeking job opportunities in the Chinese mainland, according to Peng Huai’en, a professor at Shih Hsin University in Taiwan.

　　Yin C. Chuang, a professor at Taiwan Normal University, pointed out that the change is also partly due to the Chinese mainland’s rising cultural influence in entertainment industries, as more and more youth in Taiwan watch TV dramas and shows produced on the mainland and do their shopping on Taobao, the mainland’s biggest e-commerce platform.

　　Local young people are growing up in an age when the mainland’s pop-culture is gradually taking the lead in East Asia, the professor said.