Kuomintang Chairman Lien Chan pays silent respects at the statue of KMT founder Sun Yat-sen in Nanjing yesterday.(Photo:Xinhua)

Kuomintang Chairman Lien Chan said in Nanjing yesterday that people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait should aspire to "continuously boost the Taiwan economy" and "further develop the mainland into a well-off society."
In a speech given after paying respects at the mausoleum of KMT founder Sun Yat-sen (1886-1925), Lien said the goals should be pursued "in a peaceful and going-all-out mentality" against the backdrop of the current "stalemate" in cross-strait relations.
Calling for greater efforts for common prosperity, Lien said, "Chinese should hold their heads high in the 21st century."
Now the capital city of east China's Jiangsu Province, Nanjing was once China's national capital when the country was under the rule of the KMT from the 1920s to 1940s.
Lien's visit to the Chinese mainland is the first by the party's leader since the KMT lost China's civil war and fled to Taiwan in 1949.
Lien was invited by the Communist Party of China Central Committee and General Secretary Hu Jintao. In addition to Nanjing, Lien will visit Beijing, Xi'an and Shanghai before leaving on May 3.
Shanghai government spokeswoman Jiao Yang said yesterday the city is fully prepared for Lien's visit on Sunday.
The KMT leader and his delegation plan to spend three days in the city.
Lien is scheduled to deliver a speech on cross-strait trade and development, hold talks with local entrepreneurs and Taiwan business people working in the city, visit the Shanghai Urban Planning Hall and Shanghai Museum and do some sightseeing on the Huangpu River.
In other political exchanges, James Soong, chairman of Taiwan's People First Party, is scheduled to visit the mainland from May 5 to 12. Under arrangements made by the Taiwan Work Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the PFP, Soong is expected to visit Xi'an, Nanjing, Shanghai, Changsha and Beijing.