Chen Yunlin (R), director of the Taiwan Work Office of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, greets James Soong, Chairman of the People First Party (PFP) in Taiwan, upon his arrival at Pudong airport of Shanghai, Sept. 14, 2005.[Xinhua]

Chen Yunlin, director of the Taiwan Work Office of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and Luo Shiqian, deputy secretary of the Shanghai Municipal Committee of the CPC, met Soong, other major PFP members and experts from Taiwan at the Pudong Airport.

This trip to Shanghai, Soong said upon arriving at the airport,is not only one of reconciliation, but also a trip of cooperation and economic and trade exchanges.

He said Shanghai is an important base for Taiwan business people as the city has risen to be a major economic and trade center in the world and the Yangtze River Delta.

The upcoming first session of the non-governmental forum of elites from both sides of the Taiwan Straits, which will formally open Thursday, is jointly sponsored by the Taiwan Work Office of the CPC Central Committee and the Policy Research Center of the PFP.

The forum is regarded as a major step in implementing the communique of talks between General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee Hu Jintao and PFP Chairman James Soong in May.

James Soong, Chairman of the People First Party (PFP) in Taiwan, delivers a speech upon his arrival at Pudong airport of Shanghai, Sept. 14, 2005. [Xinhua]

Prior to his departure, Soong said in Taipei the forum aims to stabilize relations across the Taiwan Straits and seek more peaceful and better lives for the people. He will exchange views with the mainland side on cross-Strait economic and trade development and direct air links.

Without a stable cross-Straits relations, said Soong, there will be no sustained economic growth. Better lives, stable cross-Straits relations and economic rejuvenation are in the best interest of the people.