CRI听力:Mainland, Taiwan Negotiators Review Their Achievements

Negotiators from the Chinese mainland and Taiwan have met in Taipei to review achievements in their talks since 2008.

The Association for Relations across the Taiwan Strait, or ARATS, and its Taiwan counterpart the Straits Exchange Foundation, looked back on 11 rounds of cross-Strait talks which led to 23 agreements.

Zheng Lizhong, executive vice president of the ARATS, says the two associations have removed many barriers in exchanges and smoothed interaction between the mainland and Taiwan.

"People on both sides across the strait are members of one family. We will try our best to do everything as long as it will be beneficial, improving the affection and well-being of the compatriots on both sides, as well as benefit the promotion and peaceful development of cross-Strait relations."

Shih Hui-fen, vice chair of Taiwan's SEF, says the talks have covered issues that are vital to ordinary people's lives.

"For more than 7-years, the ARATS and the SEF have signed agreements and put them into force, which are the fruits produced by the competent departments of the two sides and the wisdom of multiple parties. This is a hard-won achievement that both sides should take great care of it. We will create more concrete results for the people on both sides."

Both of them highlighted the historic meeting between Xi Jinping and Ma Ying-jeou in Singapore in early November and promised to capitalize on the momentum created by that meeting.