Yu Zhengsheng, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, speaks at the 2013 Taiwan-affairs conference in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 19, 2013. (Xinhua/Pang Xinglei)

BEIJING -- Senior Communist Party of China (CPC) leader Yu Zhengsheng on Tuesday stressed that the important thought of peaceful development of cross-Strait relations is of long-term guiding significance.

Yu, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, made the remarks at an annual work conference on Taiwan affairs.

The peaceful development of cross-Strait relations is the only path to peaceful reunification and it is a key part of the country's overall peaceful development strategy, Yu said.

Yu called for efforts to adhere to the guidelines on affairs concerning Taiwan, as well as efforts to comprehensively implement the important thought of peaceful development of cross-Strait relations.

Handling well affairs concerning Taiwan has a great bearing on the core national interest and the fundamental interests of the Chinese nation. The newly-elected leadership is obligated to shoulder the historical responsibility, said Yu.

Yu also briefed the conference on the major achievements scored in cross-Strait relations in last decade, and especially in the past five years, which have been marked by the most significant achievements and fastest development.

Throughout 2012, local departments nationwide continued to implement policies on promoting the peaceful development of cross-Strait relations, achieving significant results, said a statement issued after the conference.

The statement also stressed opposing "Taiwan independence," enhancing political mutual trust across the Strait and speeding up the follow-up negotiations to the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement.

It also called for efforts to promote people-to-people exchanges and to deepen exchanges in culture, education and other fields across the Taiwan Strait.

Moreover, the statement urged the protection of the rights of Taiwan compatriots and encouraged academic circles on both sides of the Strait to conduct dialogues for settling political issues.