NANJING -- Economic cooperation across the Taiwan Strait should be expanded in scope and boosted to a higher level, said Zeng Peiyan, president of the Chinese mainland-based Council of the Zijinshan Summit, on Tuesday.

Addressing the opening ceremony of the 2015 Zijinshan Summit for Entrepreneurs across the Taiwan Strait, Zeng proposed the two sides further open up their markets and support cooperation between small and medium-sized companies.

The mainland and Taiwan need to support young people to engage in innovation and business start-ups, jointly explore third party markets and enable the Zijinshan Summit to play a unique role in promoting cooperation, Zeng said.

The mainland economy, with its fundamentals remaining good, has great potential for growth, despite increasing risk of an economic downturn, according to Zeng.

"The mainland policy of enhancing opening up and supporting cross-Straits economic cooperation will not change," he said.

Zeng called on the two sides to cherish hard-won peaceful development on the basis of the 1992 consensus and offer "more patience and effort" to boost continued economic cooperation under new circumstances.

Vincent Siew, president of the Taiwan-based Council of the Zijinshan Summit, said he expected the two sides to make joint efforts to create new prospects for cross-Straits economic cooperation and promote industrial upgrades at a time when cross-Straits economic cooperation is at a crucial turning point.

More than 800 business leaders, industry and commerce group officials and economists from both sides participated in the two-day event, which is being held in Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu province.

The participants will sign cooperative contracts and announce a shared initiative on the concluding day of the summit on Wednesday.

The Zijinshan Summit was first held in 2008. In 2013, the mainland and Taiwan each set up councils dedicated to the event.