Chinese President Xi Jinping's scheduled meeting with Taiwan's leader Ma Ying-jeou in Singapore on Saturday is a milestone in the development of cross-Strait relations, a mainland Taiwan affairs official said Wednesday.

The meeting will mark a start of direct exchange and communication between leaders of the mainland and Taiwan, said Zhang Zhijun, head of the Taiwan Work Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council.

The meeting comes at an important time for the cross-Strait relations. As people on the two sides hope the relations remain peaceful and stable and bring greater welfare to the people, the meeting between the two leaders will be a significant move that complies with the people's wish and the trend of the time, Zhang said

The meeting will lift the interaction between the two sides to a new level and will create more space for the development of cross-Strait relations, he said.

The move will promote communication and mutual trust between the two sides, help manage conflicts and divergences, consolidate common political foundation and promote peaceful development of cross-Strait relations, he said.

It will help safeguard peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait and the region, he added. "I believe the meeting will gain wide support from all walks of life across the Strait and the international community."

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