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PFP head James Soong in Shanghai for forum
By Jiao Xiaoyang (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-09-15 06:13
SHANGHAI: James Soong, chairman of People First Party (PFP) in Taiwan, arrived in Shanghai yesterday afternoon to attend a non-governmental forum with the theme of promoting economic ties across the Taiwan Straits.
James Soong (holding the inscription, centre), chairman of People First Party in Taiwan, shows his inscription describing his feelings upon finishing a visit to the Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Centre shortly after his arrival in the East China metropolis yesterday afternoon. [CD] |
The three-day Cross-Straits Non-governmental Forum of Elites, which opens today, is jointly sponsored by the Taiwan Work Office of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and PFP's Policy Research Centre.
Unlike his first visit to the mainland four months ago, the Shanghai trip mainly focuses on business issues, Soong said upon arrival at Pudong International Airport.
"With Shanghai becoming a top economic and trade hub of the world and the Yangtze River Delta emerging as a new economic powerhouse, the region is a very important base for Taiwanese businesses," he said.
The Shanghai trip is not only one of reconciliation, but also a trip of co-operation and business exchanges, said Soong.
The forum, attended by approximately 150 party leaders, business elites and senior scholars from both sides, focuses on four topics, including the role and status of Taiwanese investors on the mainland, agricultural co-operation, normalization of investment, and in particular, direct cross-Straits shipping, postal and trade links known as the "three links."
Soong and Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Jia Qinglin will deliver keynote speeches this morning. Soong will also jointly host the opening of the forum, together with Chen Yunlin, director of the CPC Central Committee's Taiwan Affairs Office.
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