The Chinese mainland expects talks about a cross-Strait economic cooperation agreement to start in the latter half of this year, said President Hu Jintao Tuesday.

"Both sides should push forwards the preparation work for signing the agreement," said Hu, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, at a meeting with visiting Kuomintang (KMT) Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung.

In the near future, the mainland will continue focusing on economic cooperation with Taiwan. And the top task now is to jointly tackle the impact of the global downturn, he said.

"We have adopted some measures to pull through this crisis together with you (Taiwan people) as compatriots on the two sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to one family," he said. "We will continue doing this if the situation requires us to do it."

The mainland prefers an economic agreement that will benefit economic development on both sides, improve people's welfare and contribute to a cooperative mechanism that fits the cross-Strait reality, he said.

(Xinhua News Agency May 26, 2009)