China's top leader Hu Jintao and Kuomintang (KMT) Honorary Chairman Lien Chan will will hold a meeting during the upcoming cross-Strait forum, a mainland spokesman said in Beijing on Wednesday.

Other preparations for the third cross-Strait economic, trade and cultural forum are all proceeding well, said Yang Yi, spokesman for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, at a regular press conference.

But Yang didn't elaborate on the meeting.

Hu Jintao, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, met Lien Chan, then KMT chairman, for the first time in April 2005. The meeting was hailed as epoch-making.

They met again in April 2006 at the cross-Strait economic, trade and cultural forum, both underscoring the peaceful development of relations between the two sides.

Yang briefed journalists on the upcoming forum, which will be held in Beijing from April 28 to 29. It has attracted about 500 participants, with more than 200 from the mainland and nearly 300 from Taiwan.

Delegates from Taiwan include not only KMT representatives, but also those from other parties and political forces not in office, such as the People First Party, New Party and Non-Partisan Solidarity Union, he said.

"They come from various sectors, such as aviation, shipping, education and tourism," he said.

At the forum, participants will exchange ideas on issues such as direct flights across the Strait, cooperation in education and mainland citizens' travel to Taiwan, the aim being the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations, he said.

The previous two cross-Strait economic, trade and cultural forums have played an important role in boosting ties between the two sides, he said.

The mainland has also implemented a series of measures to facilitate economic and trade cooperation based on proposals made at the forums and this had drawn favorable comment from people on both sides, he added.