Mainland negotiator arrives in Taiwan for cross-Strait talks (2)

TAIPEI, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- Chen Deming, president of the mainland-based Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS), arrived in Taiwan on Wednesday for a new round of cross-Strait talks.

Chen was received by Lin Join-sane, chairman of Taiwan-based Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), at the Grand Hotel, where the two will hold talks on Thursday.

The latest ARATS-SEF talks, the tenth round since 2008, are expected to result in the signing of two agreements on meteorological and earthquake monitoring cooperation.

The two agreements will center around disaster prevention and relief with the aim of protecting people's life and property, Lin said at an inaugural speech.

With 19 agreements inked in previous talks, the signing of the two new agreements will give the two sides "21 expressways for cross-Strait exchanges and cooperation," Lin said.

At the inaugural speech, Chen said the meeting between the mainland's Taiwan affairs chief and his Taiwanese counterpart gave him more confidence, yet made him feel the urgency of the tasks that lie ahead.

"Chairman Lin and I are carrying a lofty mission to cement the family ties and realize the dream shared by the two sides," Chen said.

Chen is scheduled to visit Taipei's Palace Museum on Wednesday afternoon, while his deputy will conduct preparatory negotiations with the SEF's deputy chief.

Following Thursday's talks, Chen will meet Taiwan's mainland affairs chief Wang Yu-chi.

On Friday morning, Chen will visit panda cub Yuan Zai, born to a pair of giant pandas given as a goodwill gift to Taiwan by the Chinese mainland in 2008, at Taipei Zoo before heading back to Beijing on Friday afternoon.

Founded in 1991 and 1990, respectively, the ARATS and SEF are authorized by the mainland and Taiwan to handle cross-Strait affairs.