The annual Shanghai Taipei City Forum was held online on Tuesday with the participation of officials from the two cities.

The main theme of this year's event was green development. Officials from the two cities shared their carbon emission efforts and also signed a memorandum of understanding on circular economy.

The memorandum vows to exchange the two cities' experiences and achievements in sustainability.

In addition to green development, two other memorandums on culture and transportation were also signed at the forum.

The participating businessmen also talked about how Shanghai-based Taiwan companies have been recovering from Shanghai's recent COVID-19 outbreak.

In the first half of this year, trade between Taiwan and the mainland set a record year-on-year increase of some 10 percent. The COVID-19 outbreak caused some economic uncertainties, but Taiwan companies are still confident in investing in Shanghai.

Li Dezhi, executive vice chairman at Shanghai's Taiwan Investors Association, said almost all the companies in Shanghai have resumed production after Shanghai lifted COVID-19 restrictions in June.

"The COVID-19 outbreak has made some Taiwan companies reconsider their plans to invest in Shanghai. But we think it's a short-term concern. Shanghai is an international city and Taiwan companies still believe Shanghai has the best business environment," said Li.

Closer investments and economic cooperation is one thing. Some scholars believe face-to-face communication is also crucial to strengthen the relationship.

"We hope we can have face-to-face exchanges as soon as possible so that we can talk directly to each other and know the views on the cross-strait relations and the international situation," said Shao Yuqun, director of the Institute for Taiwan, Hong Kong & Macao Studies at Shanghai Institutes for International Studies.

The Shanghai Taipei City Forum is considered an important platform to exchange ideas and create business networks. More than 40 memorandums of understanding have been signed since the forum was first held in 2010.