BEIJING, June 17 (Xinhua) -- The mainland's Taiwan affairs chief, Wang Yi, called here on Tuesday for more research on Taiwan and cross-Straits relations.

    Wang, director of both the Taiwan Work Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the State Council's Taiwan Affairs Office, made the remarks at a plenary meeting of the mainland-based cross-Straits Relations Research Center.

    He encouraged researchers to develop a better understanding of the social situation and public opinions in Taiwan, propose solutions for emerging problems in mainland-Taiwan relations, and contribute more to the development of cross-Straits relations.

    When speaking with delegates at the meeting, Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo said the resumption of talks between the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) and the Taiwan-based Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) on the basis of the "1992 Consensus" and practical achievements of the talks signaled a "good start" for the improvement and development of cross-Straits relations.

    He hoped researchers could explore new ideas and methods to provide better service for Taiwan-related work.

    The meeting decided to invite Chen Yunlin, chairman of ARATS, to act as the honorable director to the research center.

Editor: Amber Yao