Cultural exchanges across the Taiwan Straits have plenty room for development, said Taiwan leader Ma Ying-jeou Thursday.

When he met Taiwan's delegates who would attend the Fifth Cross-Straits Economic, Trade and Culture Forum to be held on July 11 and 12 on the Chinese mainland, Ma said cultural exchanges would be beneficial to the island.

All the nine agreements signed between the top negotiators from the mainland and Taiwan since the two sides resumed talks more than one year ago were on issues of transport and trade, he said. "It's time for the two sides to prioritize issues on culture and education."

Participants in the forum were not restricted to members of the Kuomintang. "It's a good phenomenon," Ma said. He hoped a wider range of people could attend future events.

About 270 people from Taiwan, including the Kuomintang chairman Wu Poh-hsiung, Taiwan's New Party chairman Yok Mu-ming, the People First Party's Secretary-General Chin Chin-sheng, and the Non-Partisan Solidarity Union's chairman Lin Pin-kuan, will attend the two-day event.

Xiao Xiayong, vice secretary-general of the mainland-based China Friendship Association of Cultural Circles, said in an interview with Xinhua, "The mainland and Taiwan should promote closer, regular and standardized exchanges in the future."

"The two sides should work out policies to encourage cross-Straits cultural interaction and clear existing obstacles such as unbalanced exchanges and blocked information flow," he said.

The forum, to be held in Changsha, capital of central Hunan Province, will focus on cooperation in culture and education across the Straits.

A symposium focusing on economic and trade cooperation across the Taiwan Straits will also be held during the two-day forum.

(Xinhua News Agency July 9, 2009)