More than four million residents from Taiwan came to the
mainland in 2005, hitting a record high, while 160,000 mainland
residents visited the Taiwan island, an official with the Taiwan
Affairs Office of the State Council said on Saturday.
Dai Xiaofeng, head of the exchange bureau of the Taiwan Affairs
Office of the State Council (SCTAO) told Xinhua that since 1987,
accumulatively 38 million Taiwanese residents have come to the
mainland for business affairs or family reunions, and more than 1.2
million mainlanders went to the island.
"Communication and exchange across the Taiwan Straits underwent
an uncommon year. By earnestly implementing the consensus reached
between Hu
Jintao, General Secretary of the Central Committee of the
Communist Party of China, and former Kuomintang leader Lien Chan as
well as People First Party Chairman James Soong, the cross-Straits
exchanges have expanded to more sectors," said Dai.
A series of cultural exchange activities, such as the
Cross-Straits Art Festival and the Cross-Straits Forum on Cultural
Exchange and Cooperation, were initiated in 2005.
The cross-Straits exchanges in fields of agriculture, water
conservancy, trade unions and religious activities, were all
strengthened in 2005, said Dai.
He noted that the mainland would push forward the cross-Straits
exchanges in all the fields in 2006 as always and offer
conveniences for Taiwan compatriots to study and work on mainland
in the year.
(Xinhua News Agency January 29, 2006)