President Hu Jintao on Friday called on both sides of the Taiwan Strait to continue increasing mutual trust and deepening cooperation to create more favorable conditions for the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations.

Hu was speaking to Frederick Chien, top advisor of the Taiwan-based Cross-Straits Common Market Foundation, who headed a delegation to the 2011 annual meeting of the Boao Forum for Asia (BFA) held in the southern island province of Hainan.

Hu called on the two sides to cherish and safeguard the hard-earned and positive situation of the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations.

Chien agreed with Hu's opinions. He extended congratulations for the 10th anniversary of the inauguration of the Boao Forum and the success of the third BRICS Summit held Thursday in Hainan's Sanya.

Chien conveyed to Hu the greetings from Ma Ying-jeou, chairman of Kuomintang (KMT), while Hu also asked Chien to send his regards to Ma.

Besides entrepreneurs from Taiwan, Hu also met with major guests and representatives of the BFA.

He thanked them for their contribution to the development of the forum in the past 10 years and expressed the hope that they could continue to play a positive role in promoting the economic development of Asia and the world.

It was the third time that President Hu attended the BFA, a non-governmental platform for global leaders in the political, business and academic spheres. More than 1,400 people from around the globe attended the meeting.