Hu Jintao meets Taiwan delegation, hails cross-Straits talks

General Secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee Hu Jintao (R) meets with Chiang Pin-kun, chairman of the Taiwan-based Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), in Beijing, capital of China, June 13, 2008.

General Secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee Hu Jintao (4th R, front) and Chiang Pin-kun (5th R, front), chairman of the Taiwan-based Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), pose for a group photo after their meeting in Beijing, capital of China, June 13, 2008.

BEIJING, June 13 (Xinhua) -- Hu Jintao, General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, met Taiwan's chief negotiator Chiang Pin-kun Friday afternoon, saying the resumption of talks signaled a good start of the improvement and development of mainland-Taiwan relations.

Chiang, chairman of the Taiwan-based Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), was in Beijing for talks with the mainland's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS).

Hu said the resumption of meetings between the ARATS and SEF showed that the two sides across the Taiwan-Straits had wisdom and were capable of overcoming existing problems through talks and negotiations.

"The resumption of talks signals a good start of the improvement and development of cross-Straits relations and is worth of celebration," Hu said.

"As long as the both sides can build mutual trust, shelve differences, seek common ground and create a win-win situation, we will be able to continuously advance our negotiations and score more positive progress," Hu said.

Chiang agreed that the talks "opened a new page" in mainland-Taiwan relations, saying cross-Straits relations would see further development through cooperation and mutual benefit.

On Friday morning, the ARATS and SEF signed two agreements on weekend chartered flights and mainland tourists' travel to Taiwan after the two organizations resumed talks after nine years' suspension.

Hu said the agreements would be conducive to the exchange between Chinese compatriots across the Straits, and would contribute to the realization of direct links for mail, trade and transport services between the mainland and Taiwan.

During the meeting, Chiang conveyed condolences to the people killed in the 8.0-magnitude earthquake in Sichuan Province on May 12 and said Taiwan hoped to help with reconstruction work in the quake zones.