During the upcoming cross-Straits forum, President Hu Jintao will meet with Kuomintang (KMT) Honorary Chairman Lien Chan, it was confirmed yesterday by Yang Yi, spokesman for the State Council's Taiwan Affairs Office.

The preparations for the 3rd Cross-Straits Economic, Trade and Cultural Forum are proceeding apace, revealed Yang at a press conference without elaborating on the contents of the Hu-Lien meeting.?

The first historical meeting between the two dates back to April 2005 before their second encounter a year later at the second version of the cross-Straits forum. Their contact mirrored improving relations between the two sides.

Yang briefed journalists on the upcoming forum, to run in Beijing on April 28-29. More than 500 participants are expected, with close to 200 from the mainland meeting around 300 of their Taiwan compatriots.

Delegates from Taiwan will not only include KMT representatives, but some from other parties like the People First Party, New Party and Non-Partisan Solidarity Union. "They will hail from various sectors, such as aviation, shipping, education and tourism," Yang specified.

At the forum, participants will discuss issues such as cross-Straits flights, education and tourism, always keeping in mind peaceful development of relations.

The two previous forums contributed to keeping relations on the right track and guided the mainland in rolling out measures to facilitate economic and trade cooperation, he added.

(Xinhua News Agency April 26, 2007)