BOAO, Hainan Province, Oct. 16 (Xinhua) -- The wish of Taiwan compatriots to establish the mechanism for cross-Straits economic cooperation must be and will be realized, a senior official of the Communist Party of China (CPC) said on Monday.

Jia Qinglin, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Central Committee Political Bureau, made the remarks in a meeting with Taiwan's Kuomintang (KMT) Honorary Chairman Lien Chan, who arrived in Boao City ahead of a cross-Straits agricultural cooperation forum, which begins on Tuesday.

Jia said the forum was a major step in promoting agricultural cooperation across the Straits and would help boost the peaceful and stable development of cross-Straits relations.

More and more Taiwan compatriots have shown a strong desire to realize full and direct communication with the mainland, but the Taiwan authorities have been hampering the exchanges and affecting the interests of people on both sides.

He noted that both sides must be alert to the threat of separatism, which still remains.

Lien said both the mainland and Taiwan would benefit from deepening agricultural cooperation. Agreements and measures will hopefully be worked out at the forum.

Nearly 200 Taiwan party officials, agricultural businessmen, representatives of farmers' organizations, as well as experts and scholars, arrived in Hainan on Monday to attend the forum. Enditem