Yu Zhengsheng, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), addresses the opening ceremony of the 2013 Zijinshan Summit for Entrepreneurs across the Taiwan Strait in Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu Province, Nov. 4, 2013. (Xinhua/Pang Xinglei)
NANJING, Nov. 4 (Xinhua) -- Chinese people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait should take the current opportunity and work for closer economic cooperation, senior Chinese leader Yu Zhengsheng said at a business summit on Monday.
Yu, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, made the remarks at the opening ceremony of the 2013 Zijinshan Summit for Entrepreneurs across the Taiwan Strait in Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu province.
"Both sides should speed up their steps to promote economic cooperation in order to deal with external challenges and create a new cooperative situation," said Yu.
Yu said that both sides are now dedicated to economic cooperation, which lays a solid foundation for peaceful development and is conducive to the welfare of the people across the Taiwan Strait.
Yu reiterated that the increased participation of entrepreneurs across the Strait will promote cross-Strait economic cooperation.
"The mainland and Taiwan should boost core competitiveness in both traditional and emerging industries and expand space for industry development with a new division of labor to boost talent, funds and techniques," said Yu.
He appealed to both sides to accelerate establishment of a cross-Strait industry cooperation mechanism and urged implementation of agreements in order to improve business negotiations and conditions for entrepreneurs.
The business summit was first held in 2008, and this year marks the first "upgraded" annual meeting after the mainland and Taiwan each set up councils of the Zijinshan Summit.
Zeng Peiyan, president of the mainland-based Council of the Zijinshan Summit, said at the ceremony that the new leadership of the mainland has made a spate of new moves, including expanding domestic demand, structural adjustment, and deepening reform.
Zeng said that the reform and opening up of the mainland will lead to new opportunities for cross-Strait enterprises and create a more impartial and transparent investment environment for both sides.
Zeng also said that the summit will improve convenience and opportunities for trade. He expressed his hopes that entrepreneurs across the Strait will take the opportunity to achieve mutual benefits.
Vincent Siew, president of the Taiwan-based Council of the Zijinshan Summit, said he expected the cross-Strait service trade pact to be brought into effect at an early date as well as accelerated fulfillment of agreements on goods trade and dispute settlement, and reinforcement of the cross-Strait currency clearing mechanism.
A total of 600 entrepreneurs and financial professionals across the Strait attended the summit and will hold talks on the theme "new cross-Strait cooperative situation: challenges and countermeasures" on Nov. 4 and 5.
Before the opening ceremony, Yu met with Siew and Taiwanese delegates.
