BEIJING - Top political advisor Yu Zhengsheng on Wednesday told a visiting Taiwan delegation that mainlanders and Taiwanese can break a new ground in cross-Straits ties by pooling their efforts.

Yu, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, made the remarks in Beijing while meeting a delegation of lawmakers from Taiwan's ethnic minority groups.

Calling ethnic minority groups on the Taiwan island important members of the Chinese national "family," he praised them for their long-term, staunch defense of national esteem in their struggle against foreign aggression, as well as their roles in promoting island's development and mainland-Taiwan ties.

Compatriots from Taiwan's ethnic minority groups have proven with their actions that by pooling efforts, mainlanders and Taiwanese can advance the peaceful development of cross-Strait ties and realize national reunification and the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, Yu said.