Lin Join-sane, Chairman of Taiwan's Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), arrived in Beijing on Tuesday morning to kick off his first visit to the Chinese mainland.

Leading a 13-member delegation, Lin on Tuesday evening met with mainland counterpart Chen Yunlin, President of the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS).

Both sides highlighted the encouraging work since 2008, when the SEF and the ARATS resumed talks and negotiations on cross-Straits affairs, vowing to continue their efforts to improve cross-Straits relations.

Before the event, Lin visited Dr. Sun Yat-sen's cenotaph in Beijing's northwest in the afternoon and laid floral wreaths at the site.

According to his schedule, Lin will meet with the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office Director Wang Yi in the following days. He will leave the capital to visit Wudang Mountain, a world-renowned Taoist holy site, in central China's Hubei Province on Thursday.

On Friday afternoon, Lin will fly to Shanghai. Over the weekend, he will visit the city of Kunshan in Jiangsu Province and meet with business executives from Taiwan.

The Taiwan-based SEF on September 27 accepted the resignation of its chairman, Chiang Pin-kung, and elected Lin as its new head.

Lin, 68, has previously served as secretary general of the Kuomintang Party and of Taiwan's executive authority body. He has also held roles as a member of the board of directors and of the supervisory committee of the SEF.

The SEF, founded in 1990 and the mainland-based ARATS, founded in 1991, are the non-governmental organizations authorized by Taiwan and the mainland to engage in talks regarding cross-Straits issues.

(Xinhua News Agency October 16, 2012)