Fuzhou: The 4th Straits Youth Forum, with the theme of "hand in hand with one heart and creat a common future", kicked off here, attracting more than 800 elites from home and abroad in participation.

Initially co-sponsored by All China Youth Federation from the Mainland and China Youth Exchange Association from Taiwan, the forum is upgraded from a parochial level to a national one. Speech makers include, Chen Zhangliang, Principal of China Agricultural University, Lang Xianping, a noted economist in China, Jeanne Li, leader of Taiwan's Chinese Youth Corps, and Professor Samuel Wu from Taiwan's National Chengchi University.

Except from thematic speeches, the forum also included two special seminars, namely "Start-up and Venture Capital" and "Agricultural Industrialization Co-operation and Exchange" respectively. There were also special activities, such as "West Straits Youth Leader Roundtable", "West Straits Start-up Investment Matching Fair" and "Cross Straits Youth Exchange and Co-operation Agreement Signing Ceremony".

Headed by Lin Yi-shih, Vice Chairman of the KMT, and Jeanne Li, leader of Taiwan's Chinese Youth Corps, a more-than-100-member delegation from Taiwan joined the forum. Ms. Li praised the Forum had achieved apparent successes in just a few years in terms of participation number, range, level and topics. She believed that young people are the nation's future, the country's ridgepole and the society's mainsteam, the youth is the hope.

Mr. Lin said, both parties across the straits lack communication in decades, quite a lot of people in southern Taiwan are prejudiced against the Mainland. But after former KMT chief Lien Chan's double visits to the Mainland, exchanges between both parties have been intensified. The grass roots in Taiwan thus set their eyes on a genuine Mainland, and understand that not only businessmen and scholars can travel to the mainland, labors, farmers, students, and doctors are also allowed to live and work on the mainland. Public opinions in Taiwan has since turned greatly thanks to young people's important role in the changing process.

"The mainland's open policy brings start-up room for youth from Taiwan," he said, "as Vice Chairman of the KMT and Leader of China Youth Corps, I'm responsible to creat more exchanging opportunities and developing room for cross-straits youth."