Hu Jintao, general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, met in Beijing Saturday with Kuomintang (KMT) Honorary Chairman Lien Chan.

After their brief meeting, they met with participants attending the third cross-Taiwan Strait economic, trade and cultural forum at the Great Hall of the People.

Hu met Lien, then KMT chairman, for the first time in April 2005. The Hu-Lien meeting, hailed as epoch-making, was the first meeting between top leaders of the two parties in 60 years.

Following the meeting, the two parties released a press communique, which says that the two parties have reached a five-point consensus for "promoting peace and development across the Taiwan Strait".

Hu and Lien met again in April 2006, when Lien was in Beijing for a cross-Strait forum on economic and trade cooperation. Both of them underscored the peaceful development of relations between the two sides.

The CPC and the KMT have jointly hosted a series of forums and seminars to promote cross-Strait economic, cultural and agricultural exchanges.

About 500 participants from the mainland and Taiwan are attending the the current cross-Strait forum, which opened in Beijing on Saturday.

Participants will exchange views on issues including direct flights across the Taiwan Strait and educational and tourism cooperation between the two sides.

Source: Xinhua