Cross-Strait affairs chiefs meet in Beijing

Head of the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, Zhang Zhijun, and Taiwan's mainland affairs chief, Wang Yu-chi, on Wednesday agreed to promote the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations.

Zhang said the two sides should enhance mutual political trust on the common foundations of the 1992 consensus and opposition to "Taiwan independence".

The two sides should respect each other's development paths, social systems and properly handle differences, he said.

He urged benign interaction and more efforts to promote emotional ties and benefits for the people across the Strait; peaceful development of cross-Strait ties; and the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

During the meeting, the two sides agreed to continue negotiations on agendas of the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) and setting up representative offices for the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits and the Taiwan-based Straits Exchange Foundation on each side.

The two sides also agreed to launch negotiations on allowing mainland air travelers to transfer in Taiwan.

The agreement also included strengthening regional economy, food safety, education, culture, science and technology cooperations.