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, met with Ma Ying-jeou, the former chairman of the Chinese Kuomintang party, in Ningde, southeast China's Fujian Province on Tuesday evening. Song called on both sides of the Taiwan Straits to become participants, builders and beneficiaries of China's modernization and promote the process of national reunification. After spending a day in Ningde with students from Taiwan, Ma praised the mainland's efforts in rural revitalization and poverty alleviation as well as innovation and breakthroughs in the energy sector.