Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, met with Ma Ying-jeou in Beijing on Wednesday.

Compatriots from both sides of the Taiwan Strait belong to the same Chinese nation, Xi said. The over-5,000-year history of the Chinese nation saw successive generations of ancestors move and settle down in Taiwan and people from across the Strait fight side by side to recover the island from foreign invaders, he said.

People on both sides of the Taiwan Strait are all Chinese, Xi said. "There are no knots that cannot be untied, no issues that cannot be discussed, and no force that can separate us," he said.

The distance of the Strait cannot sever the bond of kinship between compatriots from across the Strait, Xi said.

He said that the difference in systems does not alter the reality that both sides of the Strait belong to one China, and external interference cannot hold back the historical trend of national reunification.

Calling youth "the hope of the country and the future of the nation," Xi encouraged young people from both sides of the Strait to aspire to become more proud, confident, and assured in their identity as Chinese people, work together for the long-term prosperity of the Chinese nation, and continue to create new glory of the nation.

People on both sides of the Strait share the same bloodline, culture and history as well as the same responsibility for the nation and the same aspiration for the future, Xi said. He stressed grasping the cross-Strait situation from the perspective of the overall interests and long-term development of the Chinese nation.

Xi called for resolute efforts to guard the common home of the Chinese nation, work together for the long-term well-being of the Chinese nation, foster a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation, and achieve the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

He expressed grief over the loss of lives in the 7.3-magnitude earthquake that jolted waters off the coast of Hualien on April 3, and extended his sympathies to those affected by the disaster.

Ma said that upholding the 1992 Consensus and opposing "Taiwan independence" are the common political foundation for the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations.

People on both sides of the Strait belong to the same Chinese nation, and they should deepen exchanges and cooperation, jointly carry forward the Chinese culture, improve the well-being of compatriots on both sides, and work together for the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, Ma said.