Hu Jintao, general secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, yesterday appealed for a formal end to hostilities across the Taiwan Strait and a peace agreement based on the one-China principle.

In his keynote speech to the Party's 17th National Congress in Beijing, the Party general secretary said the forces for "Taiwan independence" are stepping up their secessionist activities and seriously jeopardizing the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations.

"Here we would like to make a solemn appeal: On the basis of the one-China principle, let us discuss a formal end to the state of hostility between the two sides, reach a peace agreement, construct a framework for peaceful development of cross-Strait relations and thus usher in a new phase of peaceful development," he told delegates.

The mainland is ready to conduct exchanges, dialogue, consultations and negotiations with any political party in Taiwan on any issue as long as it recognizes that both sides of the Strait belong to one and the same China, Hu said.

"We will make every effort to achieve anything that serves the interests of our Taiwan compatriots, contributes to the maintenance of peace in the Taiwan Strait region and facilitates peaceful national reunification," he said.

Hu reiterated the Party's long-time stance that the mainland "will never waver in our commitment to the one-China principle, never abandon our efforts to achieve peaceful reunification, never change the policy of placing our hopes on the people in Taiwan and never compromise in our opposition to the secessionist activities aimed at 'Taiwan independence."'

"China's sovereignty and territorial integrity brook no division, and any matter in this regard must be decided by the entire Chinese people including our Taiwan compatriots," he said.

"We are willing to make every effort with the utmost sincerity to achieve peaceful reunification of the two sides, and will never allow anyone to separate Taiwan from the motherland in any name or by any means."

In the past five years, political parties on both sides of the Taiwan Strait have started communication, and the Anti-Secession Law was enacted to resolutely safeguard China's sovereignty and territorial integrity.