The pilot area for cross-Straits rural integrative development was set up in Zurong village of Leizhou, a county-level city in Zhanjiang, on Oct 28. It is the first of its kind in China and will focus on rural revitalization, improving people's livelihoods, as well as bolstering communications and exchanges between the two places.

The establishment of the pilot area for cross-Straits rural integrative development is a beneficial exploration and attempt to build a new platform for grassroots and non-governmental exchanges between people in Guangdong and Taiwan, as well as to help rural revitalization, said Lin Xiong, vice chairman of the Guangdong Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and chairman of the Guangdong Province Cross-Straits Exchange Promotion Association.

According to Zhao Yishan, director of the cross-Straits relations research center of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, Taiwan people have actively participated in events on the Chinese mainland like the Zhongshan Cross-Straits Forum and the Taiwan Straits Forum, as well as the construction of the pilot area for cross-Straits rural integrative development.

Exchanges between the two sides of the Taiwan Straits are getting deeper and more solid, added Zhao.

Yok Mu-ming, honorary chairman of the Taiwan-based New Party, expressed his heartfelt appreciation and warm congratulations for the opening of the pilot area through a video speech.

Zhanjiang and Taiwan share a common historical bond, said Yok, adding that the establishment of the pilot area will bolster the relationship between the two places.