About 500 Chinese women from China’s mainland, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macao and abroad are attending the meeting, which carries the theme “New Century, New Women, New Opportunities, New Challenges”.

Addressing the opening ceremony, Chen Muhua, honorary president of the All-China Women’s Federation, said that Chinese women are duty-bound to contribute to the reunification and revitalization of the Chinese nation.

The meeting will help women across the Taiwan Straits increase mutual understanding and cooperation and accelerate cultural and economic exchanges between the mainland and Taiwan, Chen said.

Ma Aizhen, director of the Taiwan Women Entrepreneurs Association, called for women from both sides to join efforts to turn China into a more beautiful and stronger nation.

During the three-day meeting, participants discuss such topics as women and economy and trade, women and social service, women and education, women and health, and women and environmental protection.

The first cross-Straits symposium on the development of women was held in Beijing in October 1993.

(Xinhua 10/29/2000)