NANJING -- Cheng Li-wun, chairwoman of the Chinese Kuomintang (KMT) party, led a KMT delegation to the Chinese mainland on Tuesday.

Cheng led the delegation to Nanjing, capital of East China's Jiangsu province, after arriving in Shanghai by plane. The visit, which covers Jiangsu, Shanghai and Beijing, will run through Sunday.

The KMT chairwoman was invited by the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee. In Nanjing, she thanked Xi and the mainland for the warm reception, saying her visit aims to safeguard peace across the Taiwan Strait.

Welcoming Cheng in Shanghai, Song Tao, head of the Taiwan Work Office of the CPC Central Committee, said Cheng will certainly feel the deep bond between people on the mainland and their Taiwan compatriots, and her trip will be widely supported by people on both sides of the Strait.

Song said that by placing the interests of the Chinese nation first and keeping in mind people's well-being, the CPC and the KMT must work together to promote the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations and strive for national rejuvenation.

Cheng's trip marks the first time in a decade that a KMT chairperson has led a delegation to the Chinese mainland. The visit is regarded as an important part of the exchanges and dialogue between the KMT and the CPC under the new circumstances.

The Taiwan question is a scar left over by a full-blown civil war fought between the forces led by the CPC and the KMT about eight decades ago. In 1949, the remnants of the defeated KMT retreated to Taiwan, and the People's Republic of China (PRC) was founded under the leadership of the CPC.

The unresolved civil war and foreign interference have left the two sides of the Taiwan Strait in a prolonged state of political confrontation. However, the fact that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China's territory has never changed.

In 1971, the United Nations General Assembly adopted Resolution 2758 by an overwhelming majority, clarifying that the PRC government is the sole legal government representing the whole of China. It is widely recognized by the international community that there is only one China and that Taiwan is part of China's territory.

Cheng was elected KMT chairperson in October last year. Since taking office, she has repeatedly expressed her willingness to visit the mainland.

After accepting the invitation, Cheng told a press conference in Taipei that the visit is in line with the mainstream public opinion in Taiwan.

She said that her visit, like previous visits to the mainland by former KMT chairmen Lien Chan and Ma Ying-jeou, is on the basis of the same political foundation — adherence to the 1992 Consensus, which embodies the one-China principle, and opposition to "Taiwan independence."

In Nanjing, Cheng reiterated that the KMT will continue to uphold the 1992 Consensus, oppose "Taiwan independence," and play an important role in promoting the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations.