The Kuomintang Party (KMT) endorsed Ma Ying-jeou as its candidate for Taiwan leader at the second session of its 17th party congress on Sunday, according to reports by Taiwan-based media.

At the same time, the KMT endorsed Vincent Siew as Ma's running mate in the 2008 Taiwan leader election.

At the session, Ma, former KMT chairman and former mayor of Taipei, said he and Siew would pay more visits to the southern part of the island province to woo local voters.

On Saturday, Ma made Siew his running mate in the 2008 election. Siew, currently chairman of the "Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research".

On Feb. 13 this year, Ma announced he would run for Taiwan leader in 2008, and on May 2, the standing committee of the KMT nominated Ma as the candidate for the election.

(Xinhua News Agency June 24, 2007)