Ma Ying-jeou, former chairman of the Chinese Kuomintang party, kicked off his mainland visit on Monday. The visit aims to promote cross-Straits youth exchanges.

Ma, leading a delegation of young people from Taiwan, landed at Shenzhen Bao'an International Airport in south China's Guangdong Province on Monday afternoon.

The delegation is scheduled to visit the Guangdong and Shaanxi provinces, as well as Beijing, where they will attend a ceremony honoring China's legendary ancestor Huangdi, or the Yellow Emperor, and other events from April 1 to 11, the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office said last week.