A senior Chinese official said on Saturday that the mainland and Taiwan should strengthen economic cooperation and cultural exchanges to maintain the peaceful development of the cross-Straits relationship, which can help both sides to stand against the ongoing global economic downturn.

"The past four years was the most peaceful period in the progress of the cross-Straits relations, as both sides have sought common ground while shelving differences," said Jia Qinglin, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

Jia stressed that as both sides of the Straits face common challenges in the flagging global economy, the mainland and Taiwan should lose no time to make use of complementary advantages to promote economic cooperation for mutual benefits and improve international competitiveness.

The top political adviser made the remarks at the opening ceremony for the 8th Cross-Straits Economic Trade and Culture Forum, which was held in Harbin, capital of Northeast China's Heilong jiang province on Saturday and Sunday.

The forum, which was originally proposed by the Communist Party of China and Taiwan's Kuomintang in 2006, has attracted more than 200 participants this year from Taiwan.

Participants were from the island's government officials, delegates of different political parties, scholars and representatives from the trade, financial, tourism, education, publishing, film and television industries. They have joined their mainland counterparts to discuss cross-Straits economic and trade cooperation as well as cultural and educational exchanges, the organizers said.

Wu Poh-hsiung, honorary chairman of the island's ruling Kuomintang, said at the forum that peaceful development is the right track that should be followed. Wu also said that the Kuomintang has always opposed "Taiwanese independence", adding that the "1992 Consensus" is the foundation for all cross-Straits negotiations.

Wu urged the Chinese mainland and Taiwan to quickly sign the cross-Straits investment protection agreement, which could help protect investors from both sides.

He also suggested the two sides set up the much-anticipated mechanism for the renminbi's settlement in cross-Straits trade for closer economic and financial partnership.

"The forum has improved the investment environment and helped expand business opportunities for Taiwan-funded companies," said Lin Bingsheng, chairman of Yon Ho Food Company, a Chinese fast-food restaurant chain with investments from Taiwan.

"The business model is usually more mature with commercial enterprises from Taiwan as they have long followed experiences of the developed countries, while the mainland has an ever-increasing consumer market. Both sides of the Straits are complementary in doing business, which benefits the people," he said at a sideline of the forum.

Lee Chien-sing, the former president of Taiwan's National Taipei University, who attended the forum for the eighth time, said the film and TV industries on both sides of the Straits see more opportunity in cooperation than competition.

He said Taiwan and the mainland should work together to create better film and television productions by combining advanced technologies with traditional cultural content.

Last year, there were more than 3,000 cultural exchange programs between the mainland and Taiwan, up 33 percent year-on-year, which involved about 12,000 people, Zhao Shaohua, vice-minister of the Ministry of Culture, said at the forum.

The two sides will negotiate additional framework agreements on cooperation in the culture industry, Zhao said.

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