More than 8,000 Taiwanese people are to attend the first civil forum between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan later this week, Yang Yi, spokesman for the State Council's Taiwan Affairs Office, told reporters Wednesday.

The forum will run from May 15 to 22 in Xiamen, Fuzhou, Quanzhou and Putian in the southeast province of Fujian.

The 8,000 are to include Chu Li-luan, vice chairman of the Kuomintang Party, mayors and representatives from 25 of Taiwan's cities and counties, heads of key trade organizations and representatives of more than 20 industries on the island, Yang said.

They are to be joined by the mainland's top political advisor Jia Qinglin, senior civil servants, and experts and scholars from the mainland, he said.

Some mainland cities would send delegations.

It consists of 18 activities, including a conference on cross-Straits tourism, a trade fair, films and a symposium featuring presidents from universities on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. Issues like the economy and trade, culture, education, women and youth are to be covered.

(Xinhua News Agency May 13, 2009)