President Jiang Meets Taiwanese Trade Delegation

Jiang Zemin meets Taiwanese trade delegation

Chinese President Jiang Zemin met a trade delegation from the Taiwan Industrial Association on Monday afternoon at Zhongnanhai, the central government compound in Beijing.

Jiang, also General Secretary of the Central Committee of Communist Party of China, welcomed the visiting group, and encouraged them to play a bigger role in promoting economic exchange and cooperation across the Taiwan Straits and the peaceful reunification of the motherland.

Jiang told the guests about the Chinese mainland's strategy of invigorating the nation through science and education and its ambitious plan to develop the western region, which will create more investment opportunities for the Taiwanese compatriots.

"As the world enters the 21st century, the people on the two sides of the Taiwan Straits should join hands to strive for common prosperity," the Chinese leader said.

On the cross-strait relations, Jiang stressed that "peaceful reunification," and "one country, two systems" are still the basic principles for resolving the Taiwan question, and that the "one China" principle is the prerequisite for peaceful reunification, adding that any form of Taiwan independence will not be tolerated.

The Chinese nation is a great nation, Jiang said, and it is the sincere hope and sacred duty of all descendants of the Chinese nation to work for independence, prosperity and complete unification of the motherland.

"With concerted efforts of patriotic Chinese on both sides of the Straits and all over the world, the country will become strong and unified and the Chinese nation will be rejuvenated at an early date," President Jiang said.