Cai Wu (C), honorary chairman of the China Friendship Association of Cultural Circles, arrives at Taipei to visit southeast China's Taiwan, Sept. 2, 2010.

Heading a 50-member delegation from the Chinese mainland, Minister of Culture Cai Wu embarked on a week-long visit to Taiwan Thursday, marking the highest-level visit to the island in 12 years.

Landing in Taipei as the honorary chairman of the China Friendship Association of Cultural Circles, Cai is expected to expand the spectrum of cross-Straits cooperation months after the signing of a milestone trade pact, the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA).

"While here, I will attend a seminar … and promote cultural exchanges with Taiwan," Cai said upon his arrival at the airport, according to AFP.

Invited by the Shen Chun-chih Culture Foundation, Cai is to attend a seminar Monday, when he is likely to meet his Taiwan counterpart, Emile Sheng, chairman of Taiwan's Council for Cultural Affairs, officials in Beijing told the Global Times Thursday.

The seminar will focus on topics including cultural creativity, tangible and intangible cultural heritage, and community culture and development, according to the foundation.

Cai is the first minister to visit Taiwan since 1998, when Zhu Lilan, the former science and technology minister, paid a visit.