The chairman of the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits, Chen Yunlin headed south yesterday, to Kaohsiung City, where he crossed the Chuoshui River for the first time. He also met with small and medium enterprises at a brief conference to exchange views in regard to the cross-strait trade.

Industry representatives from Kaohsiung City welcomed Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits Chairman Chen Yunlin to the city, and the two sides exchanged souvenirs.

The main focus of the conference was Kaohsiung's small and medium enterprises, and the two sides discussed their expectations for cross-strait trade.

The industry representatives promoted Kaohsiung's agriculture and fishery industries, while Chen said that he was extremely emotional about visiting the city for the first time.

He also discussed his own background and how he worked his way up in a manufacturing plant.

The conference was organized by the Kaohsiung City Economic Development Bureau on behalf of the Straits Exchange Foundation, and the directors of the EDB and the Kaohsiung City Information Bureau were in attendance.

Kaohsiung City Mayor Chen Chu, however, did not make an appearance.