A youth forum for young people from the Chinese mainland and Taiwan was held on Friday to discuss exchanges and cooperation.

In a sense it will be young people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait who will determine the future of cross-Strait relations, said Sun Yafu, deputy director of the Taiwan Work Office of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee.

We maintain that young people of both sides should beef up exchanges, enhance communication, deepen feelings and build consensus to set up a bridge of hope for forging cross-Strait relations of peace, stability and development, said Sun.

More than 150 youth delegates from the Chinese mainland and Taiwan attended the one-day forum, the first exchange activity jointly organized by the Communist Youth League of China and the Young KMT.

The forum is regarded as a further extension of exchanges between the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the Kuomintang (KMT).

Young people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait should be pioneers, promote prosperity and development for both sides, acting as inheritors and transmitters of traditional Chinese culture, promote peace across the Taiwan Strait and working to rejuvenate the Chinese nation, said Luo Haocai, Vice-Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

Hu Chunhua, first secretary of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League of China, pledged to vigorously promote cultural exchanges between young people on both sides to boost mutual trust and cooperation.

In an interview with Xinhua on the sidelines of the forum, KMT vice-chairman Chiang Pin-kung said the forum has created opportunities for peace and development across the Taiwan Strait.

The purpose of these efforts is to advance the common interests of compatriots on both sides under a framework of peace, stability and development, said Chiang.

He called on the youth to shoulder their responsibilities in cross-Strait relations.

(Xinhua News Agency December 16, 2006)