BEIJING, Sept. 26 -- Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, said on Friday that China took "a firm and unwavering stance" on national reunification.

At the Great Hall of the People, Xi told a visiting Taiwanese delegation composed of pro-reunification groups that cross-Strait peaceful development would not change despite new problems facing the Chinese mainland and Taiwan.

He called on both sides to strengthen confidence and work for the nation's rejuvenation.

The delegation led by New Alliance Association chairman Hsu Li-nung and New Party Chairman Yok Mu-ming started a six-day visit to the mainland on Wednesday with plans to visit Beijing and Nanjing, at the invitation of the Taiwan Work Office of the CPC Central Committee.

The delegates include representatives from more than 20 groups, including the New Party, New Alliance Association, the Alliance for the Reunification of China, the Labor Party of Taiwan and the China Tide Association.

In Beijing, they will visit the Museum of the War of the Chinese People's Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and an exhibition in Beijing's Zhongguancun, known as "China's Silicon Valley" .

In Nanjing, the delegation will visit the Memorial Hall of the Victims in Nanjing Massacre by Japanese Invaders.