Taiwan delegation members take photos at the fifth Straits Forum in Xiamen, Fujian province, on Sunday. Hu Meidong / China Daily

The Chinese mainland will continue its "correct policies" to further consolidate peaceful cross-Straits ties, top political adviser Yu Zhengsheng said on Sunday.

Yu, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, made the remarks in a keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the fifth Straits Forum in Xiamen, Fujian province. The forum is scheduled to continue through Friday.

"The new leadership will continue to follow the correct policies and dedicate itself to consolidating the political, economic, cultural and social foundation for the peaceful development of cross-Straits relations," Yu said.

Yu said fruitful exchanges and cooperation have opened a new era of peaceful development that has brought substantial benefits to people on both sides of the Straits, and that the key to further development lies in the two sides adhering to the 1992 consensus and carrying out more communication, boosting understanding and beefing up cooperation to achieve mutual benefits.

The Straits Forum, initiated in 2009, has become an important platform for the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations, according to the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council.

On Sunday, Zhang Zhijun, director of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, announced a group of favorable policies at the forum to facilitate more convenient exchanges between the mainland and Taiwan.

The mainland will open 10 more categories of professional qualification examinations to Taiwan residents, support Taiwan people that have graduated from the mainland's colleges starting their own businesses, and provide subsidies for entrepreneurship training to students from Taiwan, Xinhua News Agency reported.

Yu's remarks and the favorable policies came after a meeting between Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, and Wu Po-hsiung, honorary chairman of the Kuomintang, who visited Beijing with a delegation from Wednesday to Friday.

During the meeting on Thursday, Xi stressed that the two sides should uphold the one-China framework and set the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation as their common goal.

"Though the mainland and Taiwan are yet to be reunified, they belong to one China and are inseparable parts of the country," Xi said.

Wu Poh-Hsiung echoed that adhering to the "1992 consensus" and opposing "Taiwan independence" are the positions of both the Kuomintang and the CPC, and both sides define the cross-Straits relationship within the one-China framework.

Wang Hongzhi, a researcher from the Institute of Taiwan Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the meeting between Xi and Wu has laid the basis for the future development of cross-Straits ties.

"Wu has submitted an important message - both Taiwan and the mainland will stick to the one-China framework."

anbaijie@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily USA 06/17/2013 page4)