The Eight Conference of the Board of Directors of the Chinese Council for the Promotion of Peaceful National Reunification (CCPPNR) came to an end Thursday, re-electing senior leader Jia Qinglin the council's chairman.

Jia is a member of the Standing Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee Political Bureau, and chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC).

Jia Qinglin (L F), chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, meets with directors of the Chinese Council for the Promotion of Peaceful National Reunification (CCPPNR) in Beijing, capital of China, Sept. 24, 2009. [Xinhua]

He attended the closing session and congratulated its success on behalf of the CPC Central Committee, saying facts indicate that the council has become a major link between the mainland and overseas Chinese, and a bridge between Chinese compatriots living on the two sides of the Taiwan Strait.

He highlighted the role of the CPC in the great changes of New China in the past 60 years, stressing, "the Chinese nation will definitely play an even more splendid movement in the process of its great rejuvenation."

Jia stressed that it is a common aspiration of the whole Chinese to promote a peaceful development of the cross-strait relations and finally achieve a complete unification of the nation.

"Practice shows that Chinese living on the sides of the strait have the abilities and wisdom to hold the future of the cross-strait relations in their own hands," the top political advisor said.

He urged the two sides to join hands in promoting a peaceful development of the cross-strait relations and opening up a beautiful future for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

In his speech, Jia called for further studying and implementing the six-point instruction on cross-strait ties made by President Hu Jintao last December, when he spoke in memory of the 30th anniversary of the Letter to Taiwan Compatriots by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress.

(Xinhua News Agency September 25, 2009)