More than 1,300 women's groups representatives from both sides of the Taiwan Straits gathered with scholars in Beijing for the Third Cross-Straits Women's Development Seminar on Tuesday.

The event is being attended by more than 700 women from Taiwan, and nearly 100 from Hong Kong and Macao.

It is the largest such seminar to date, said Wang Naikun, a senior official with the All-China Women's Federation (ACWF), sponsors of the event. The first two seminars, the first in 1993 and the second in 2000, were attended in total by approximately 500 women from Taiwan.
 
At this year's seminar, representatives and scholars are focusing on four main topics, including entrepreneurship, education and equality, media, family education and children's development.

The representatives will be divided into groups when discussions finish today and will visit Beijing, Shanghai, and Fujian, Sichuan and Shaanxi provinces between Thursday and Sunday.

"Women are an important force in achieving peaceful development of cross-Straits relations," said Zheng Lizhong, vice-minister of Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, at the opening ceremony.

"Women across the Straits should carry forward Chinese culture and contribute to peace and stability of the motherland as well as to national rejuvenation," said Gu Xiulian, vice-chairwoman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress and president of the ACWF.

(China Daily September 20, 2006)