Jia Qinglin (R), chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, meets with Lien Chan, honorary chairman of the Kuomintang Party, in Beijing, capital of China, April 27, 2007. Lien Chan will attend the third cross-straits economic, trade and cultural forum scheduled for April 28-29 in Beijing. (Xinhua Photo/Pang Xinglei) Photo Gallery>>>

    BEIJING, April 27 (Xinhua) -- China's top political advisor Jia Qinglin on Friday met Kuomintang (KMT) Honorary Chairman Lien Chan who has just arrived here to attend a mainland-Taiwan cooperation forum.

    Jia, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, met Lien in the Great Hall of the People.

    About 500 participants from the mainland and Taiwan will attend the third cross-Taiwan Strait economic, trade and cultural forum, to be held in Beijing from April 28 to 29, said Yang Yi, spokesman for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council.

    Hu Jintao, general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, will meet Lien Chan in Beijing, according to Yang.

    Hu met Lien, then KMT chairman, for the first time in April 2005. They met again in April 2006 at a cross-Strait forum, both underscoring the peaceful development of relations between the mainland and Taiwan.

    Participants will exchange ideas on issues such as direct flights across the Taiwan Strait, cooperation in education and mainland citizens' travel to Taiwan at Saturday's forum.