Cheng Li-wun, chairwoman of the Chinese Kuomintang party, leading a delegation of the KMT, arrived in Nanjing, the capital of Jiangsu province, via Shanghai on Tuesday, beginning a mainland visit that will run through Sunday.

The visit is considered an important part of the promotion of cross-Strait peace and dialogue.

Cheng and the delegation landed at Shanghai Hongqiao International Airport and traveled to Nanjing later in the day. Song Tao, head of the Taiwan Work Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, welcomed them at the airport.

At the invitation of the CPC Central Committee and Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, Cheng and the delegation are scheduled to visit Jiangsu, Shanghai and Beijing.

The visit is the first by a KMT chairperson to the mainland in a decade. Since taking office in October, Cheng has expressed on multiple occasions her willingness to visit the mainland.

Upon arriving in Nanjing, Cheng expressed her gratitude to General Secretary Xi, thanking the mainland for the warm reception. She said that the visit aimed to safeguard peace across the Taiwan Strait and improve people's well-being, and is therefore of great significance.

She added that the KMT will continue to uphold the 1992 Consensus, oppose "Taiwan independence", and play an active role in promoting the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations.

Song welcomed Cheng and her delegation, saying that the visit would enable them to experience firsthand the mainland's tremendous development achievements under the leadership of General Secretary Xi and the CPC, as well as the deep friendship that mainland compatriots have for their counterparts in Taiwan.

Song said he believes the visit would receive strong recognition and support from people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.

He stressed that both sides should prioritize national interests and the well-being of compatriots, work together to promote the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations, and strive together for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

Li Zhenguang, dean of the Taiwan Research Institute at Beijing Union University, said that the visit would demonstrate the joint efforts of the CPC and the KMT to promote peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait, as well as peaceful cross-Strait development and exchanges.

"People on both sides of the Taiwan Strait hope to ease the current tensions," Li said, adding that the visit reflects a shared aspiration for peaceful development and expanded exchanges and cooperation, both on the mainland and in Taiwan.

He added that Cheng's adherence to the 1992 Consensus and her opposition to "Taiwan independence" have paved the way for high-level exchanges between the CPC and the KMT.

The KMT delegation included its three vice-chairpersons — Lee Chien-lung, Chang Jung-kung and Hsiao Hsu-tsen — as well as Lee Hong-yuan, deputy chairman of the KMT-affiliated policy think tank, and Su Chi, chairman of the KMT central advisory committee, who coined the term "1992 Consensus".