A symposium for Taiwan businesspeople celebrating the Spring Festival, held in Beijing on Sunday, called on compatriots and businesspeople in the Taiwan region to positively promote cross-strait exchanges and cooperation.
Song Tao, head of both the Taiwan Work Office of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, extended Spring Festival greetings to all Taiwan businesspeople, adding that both sides of the Taiwan Straits are as close as one family.
"We should thoroughly implement the guiding principles of the 20th CPC National Congress and the CPC's overall policy for solving the Taiwan question in the new era," he said.
Song also called for respecting, caring and bringing benefits to all Taiwan compatriots and helping businesses and enterprises in the region to integrate into the mainland's new development pattern and participate in the high-quality development.
A symposium for Taiwan businesspeople celebrating the Spring Festival of the Chinese New Year is held in Beijing, China, February 5, 2023. /Taiwan.cn
The mainland is committed to promoting cross-strait exchanges and cooperation in various fields and providing convenience for cross-strait personnel exchanges, aimed at realizing the normalization of cross-strait exchanges and communication, and continuously improving the well-being of compatriots on both sides of the Straits, Song said.
"As long as the Taiwan authorities can recognize the 1992 Consensus that embodies the one-China principle, cross-strait consultations and negotiations can resume," said Song.
He called on compatriots and businesspeople in Taiwan to positively promote cross-strait exchanges and cooperation, and firmly oppose "Taiwan independence" separatist activities and interference from external forces, so as to jointly push forward the peaceful development of cross-strait relations and the process of national reunification.
Noting the immense development potential and bright prospects on the mainland, Lee Cheng-hung, chairman of the Association of Taiwan Investment Enterprises on the Mainland, said Taiwan businesspeople are full of confidence in their development on the mainland.
During the event, Taiwan businesspeople based in places such as China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Sichuan Province, Zhejiang Province and Shanghai also expressed their views on promoting the cause of national reunification, chasing dreams on the mainland, contributing to Chinese modernization and deepening cultural and people-to-people exchanges across the Straits.
Co-hosted by the Taiwan Work Office of the CPC Central Committee and the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, the event gathered more than 50 business representatives from Taiwan.
(With input from Xinhua)