Jia Qinglin (2nd R), chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, meets with trade union representatives from southeast China's Taiwan, in Beijing, capital of China, April 15, 2011. (Xinhua/Huang Jingwen)  

Jia Qinglin (C, 1st row), chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, poses for a group photo with trade union representatives from southeast China's Taiwan, in Beijing, capital of China, April 15, 2011. (Xinhua/Huang Jingwen)

BEIJING, April 15 (Xinhua) -- Senior mainland official Jia Qinglin met with trade union representatives from Taiwan on Friday, hoping that trade unions from both sides could work together to safeguard the peaceful development of cross-Strait ties.

Jia, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, said cross-Strait compatriots should cherish their hard-won, fruitful cooperation in various sectors.

Recent improvements in cross-Strait relations were driven by establishing mutual trust based on joint efforts to oppose "Taiwan independence" and stick to the 1992 Consensus, wherein both sides of the Taiwan Strait adhere to the one-China principle, said Jia, also chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

Jia also expressed the hope that trade unions, organizations of the working class in both the mainland and Taiwan, would make concerted efforts to protect the rights and interests of workers on both sides of the Strait.

Representatives from Taiwan were here to attend the fourth forum on mainland-Taiwan trade unions, which ran under the theme of employment promotion and trade union function.