James Soong, chairman of the People First Party in Taiwan, arrived in the Chinese mainland city of Shanghai Wednesday afternoon to attend a non-governmental forum of elites from Thursday to Friday.

The forum of elites from both sides of the Taiwan Straits is jointly sponsored by the Taiwan Work Office of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and the Policy Research Center of the PFP.

It is regarded as an important measure to implement the communique of talks between General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee Hu Jintao and PFP Chairman James Soong and an important activity for the two parties to conduct exchanges and dialogue. 
Chen Yunlin, director of the Taiwan Work Office of the CPC Central Committee and Luo Shiqian, deputy secretary of the Shanghai Municipal Committee of the CPC, met Soong, other major PFP members and experts from Taiwan at the Pudong Airport.

In a brief speech at the airport, Soong said the forum in Shanghai aims to implement the consensus reached in his talks with General Secretary Hu Jintao in May.

This trip to Shanghai, said Soong, is not only one of reconciliation, but also a trip of cooperation and economic and trade exchanges.

He said Shanghai is an important base for Taiwan business people as the city has risen to be a major economic and trade center in the world and the Yangtze River Delta.

He noted there are more than 500,000 Taiwan business people in this delta area.

Prior to his departure, Soong said in Taipei that the forum is aimed at stabilizing relations across the Taiwan Straits and seeking more peaceful and better lives for the people. He will exchange views with the mainland side on cross-Straits economic and trade issues and direct air links.

Without stable cross-Straits relations, said Soong, there will be no sustained economic growth. Better lives, stable cross-Straits ties and economic rejuvenation are in the best interest of the people.

(Xinhua News Agency September 15, 2005)