Momentum of growing CPC, KMT dialogue irreversible

Direct communication between the Communist Party of China (CPC) on the Chinese mainland and Taiwan's Kuomintang (KMT) has increased since 2005, helping foster the peaceful development of cross-Strait ties.

On Saturday, Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, called for strengthened communication between the two parties in a congratulatory message to Eric Chu, who was elected chairman of the ruling KMT party in an uncontested election on the same day.

In his reply to Xi's message, Chu said he expects the two parties to continue to expand exchanges.

The top leaders of both parties are continuing a trend of increased communication between the two parties that began in April 2005, when Hu Jintao, then general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, met with then KMT chairman Lien Chan in Beijing.

Their meeting marked the first in six decades between the top leaders of the two parties.

The same year, the two parties established an annual cross-Strait economic, trade and culture forum as a key communication platform between the two parties, as well as between the mainland and Taiwan.

Communication has picked up remarkably since 2008, when then KMT chairman Ma Ying-jeou won the island's leadership election.

In that year, direct air transport, sea transport and postal services were launched in December. Two years later, the mainland and Taiwan signed the ECFA, a comprehensive cross-Strait economic pact featuring reduction of tariffs and commercial barriers between the two sides.

These moves, led by the CPC and KMT, have brought burgeoning trade across the Strait.

Mainland statistics showed that in 2014, trade values between the two sides reached 198.31 billion U.S. dollars, up 0.6 percent year on year, with imports from Taiwan worth more than 152 billion U.S. dollars. The figure was 168.96 billion U.S. dollars for 2012.

These encouraging numbers indicate that improved communication between the CPC and KMT has been fruitful, bringing benefits to both sides of the Taiwan Strait.

However, it should be remembered that the momentum since 2005, particularly after 2008, can only continue if both parties adhere to the common political commitments of upholding the 1992 Consensus and opposing "Taiwan independence."

The 1992 Consensus is an agreement reached between the mainland and Taiwan in 1992, upholding the one-China principle.

In order to further promote the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations, the CPC and the KMT, as responsible parties, should deepen mutual trust on the basis of maintaining these commitments.

A new year has come and it is time to make wishes. It is in the interests of people on both sides of the Strait that the CPC and KMT work together to build on the momentum and make fresh achievements for the peaceful development of relations.