Cross-Straits economic forum held in Shanghai

SHANGHAI - The 10th Cross-Straits Economic, Trade and Culture Forum, a regular meeting between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan, was held Sunday in Shanghai.

Yu Zhengsheng, top political advisor and senior leader of the Communist Party of China (CPC), and Eric Chu, chairman of the Kuomintang (KMT), attended the opening ceremony.

On behalf of the CPC Central Committee and Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, Yu, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, congratulated on the one-day forum.

In his speech, Yu said the mainland and Taiwan should discuss ways for the island to participate in the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB).

Talks could also encompass the Belt and Road Initiative and some regional economic cooperation opportunities, to develop the international market and improve the competitiveness of the whole Chinese economy, he said.

The two sides should assure the peaceful development of relations by adhering to the 1992 Consensus and opposing "Taiwan independence", according to Yu, who is also chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

"Contact and exchange between young people from both sides will help them realize their dreams," Yu said, calling for a better deal for young people living, studying, working or starting businesses away from their hometowns on the other side of the Taiwan Straits, regardless of where they originate.

Yu asked the forum to continue its focus on welfare with exchanges of economic policy and industrial plans. Efforts to help ordinary people, small and medium-sized enterprises as well as farmers and fishermen should be considered, he said.

The forum should invite opinion from a wider spectrum of people to cover both major issues of cross-Straits development and specific practical matters.

Yu recalled that when the cross-Straits relations were experiencing a turbulent time 10 years ago, the first Cross-Straits Economic, Trade and Culture Forum was proposed by the CPC and the KMT with the two sides' resolve to contain "Taiwan independence" forces and seek historic reconciliation, cross-Straits peace and benefits for compatriots on both sides.