2015年CRI Announcement of Xi-Ma Meeting Raises Expectations（在线收听）

The meeting is scheduled to take place in Singapore on Saturday. Zhang Zhijun, head of the Taiwan Work Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, says the event will be the first of its kind in 66 years.

"This is the first meeting of leaders of both sides of the strait since 1949. It will bring communication across the strait to a new level. It will also bring prospect for the development of the relations across the strait."

Zhang Zhijun is also head of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, China's cabinet.

According to Zhang, Saturday's meeting will feature one session open to the media and another behind closed doors. The two sides will address the press after their private talks. The two leaders will then attend a dinner to conclude the meetings.

Zhang says the two men will meet in their capacity of "leaders of the two sides" of the Taiwan Straits.

"The meeting is to be conducted in the capacity of leaders from the two sides of the straits. It means that the two leaders will meet under the title of "leader of the Mainland" and "leader of Taiwan". The two leaders will call each other "Mr.". This is a pragmatic arrangement under the situation of the irresolution of cross-strait political differences on the basis of the one-China principle. It is acceptable for both sides."

Zhang says the meeting will help consolidate the 1992 Consensus, which was reached in talks between the two sides in 1992 and endorses the one-China principle.

In Taiwan, the upcoming event is widely covered by local media. The island's ruling Kuomintang Party has hailed the meeting as "a major watershed" for mutually beneficial cooperation.

Chief of Taiwan's mainland Affairs Hsia Li-yan comments highly on the meeting.

"The meeting between the leaders of the two sides shows the firm determination to maintain peace and stability across the Straits, and recreate a new milestone for development of the cross-Straits relations. The focus of the meeting is to consolidate peace, and reiterate to maintain the current peace and stability across the Straits based on the 1992 Consensus."

Hsia says experts in Taiwan believe Saturday's events could lead to more regular exchanges between the mainland and Taiwan, such as meeting between heads in charge of cross-strait affairs.

Announcement of the news was particularly welcomed by Taiwan's business community. The Taiwan Stock Exchange's main index opened higher yesterday and continued to climb sharply, reflecting anticipations of further improvement in cross-strait ties after Saturday's meeting.

For CRI, I'm Victor Ning.