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)