The 8th Cross-Strait Youth Development Forum has been held in east China's Hangzhou. CGTN's Wu Bin reports.

Around 800 youth representatives from Taiwan attended the opening ceremony held in China's tech center Hangzhou.

Pan Xianzhang, deputy director of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, called on youths to contribute their efforts in promoting the peaceful development of Cross-Strait relations.

Former Kuomintang Party Leader Hung Hsiu-chu attended the forum for the 8th consecutive year and called on youths to think about the island's future, especially under current international situations.

HUNG HSIU-CHU Former KMT Party Leader "In particular, under the intensifying competition between the United States and China, will Taiwan be used by the United States as a pawn to contain China and further cause turmoil in the Taiwan Strait, or a civil war in which compatriots will fight against each other? This will undoubtedly be a tragedy for both sides, but also a scar and a wound that will be difficult to heal for the Chinese nation."

Five guests from both the mainland and Taiwan also shared their thoughts on Cross-Strait relations. Some hope for deeper integration in the technology sector, and some returned to the history of these relations.

LEI CHIEN Commentator on Taiwan Affairs "Lai's '10 lectures on Unity' is a distortion of historical interpretation. I would love for more people to come together with real history, real figures to refute this set of national narratives, the so-called 'national self-determination' and even their attempt to establish the legitimacy in the United Nations."

After the opening ceremony, the youngsters are divided into groups and will visit several cities in Zhejiang Province in the following days.

WU BIN Hangzhou, Zhejiang "The Chinese mainland has been creating a range of platforms, like youth development forums, that invite thousands of young people from Taiwan to come and see the mainland for themselves. The goal is to inject fresh energy into cross-Strait ties. Earlier this year, the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council stressed that exchanges like these will continue, no matter the challenges ahead. Wu Bin, CGTN, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province."