A cross-Taiwan Strait forum on economic and cultural exchanges concluded in the Chinese city of Changsha Sunday, with participants from Taiwan and China vowing to further bolster cultural and educational exchanges across the Taiwan Strait. In an address at the forum's closing ceremony, Taiwan chief delegate Wu Poh- hsiung, outgoing chairman of the ruling Kuomintang (KMT) , expressed hope that the conclusions reached and suggestions made in the forum will be implemented. Wu said the officials, academics and business leaders from the two sides who took part in the forum expressed constructive opinions and came up with a variety of suggestions during the two-day meeting, making important contributions to efforts to consolidate reciprocity and mutual trust across the strait. It was the first time that the forum -- the fifth of its kind -- had been used as a platform upon which experts from the two sides exchanged dialogue on cultural and educational affairs and issues, Wu noted. First initiated by then KMT Chairman Lien Chan in 2005 with the original intention of serving as a platform for discussion between the KMT, when it was in opposition, and the Communist Part of China, the forum has been held every year since then. Wu said Taiwan and China share same cultural and language backgrounds and added that although differences have appeared between the two sides as a result of decades of political separation, their cultures and languages have continued to exist under differing appearances but with an identical basis. 'Taiwan and China hold complementary cultural advantages that could be used, via frequent exchanges, to spur cultural rebirth on both sides,' Wu said. Upon the conclusion of the forum, the participants made a number of suggestions to be used for reference by policy-makers from Taiwan and China: The two sides should co-sponsor cultural and arts festivals and cooperate in compiling a new mandarin Chinese dictionary; The two sides should strengthen cooperation in the cultural industry, in intellectual property rights protection, and should jointly produce movies, TV programs for each other's markets; Taiwanese and Chinese educational institutes should mutually recognize academic credentials, make academic credits mutually transferable and allow students from one side to attend schools on the other; The two sides should expand journalism exchanges, allowing media from the two sides to post reporters on each other's side; and The two sides should bolster exchanges and cooperation in the fields of alternative energy and environmental protection. Wu, who led a 270-strong Taiwanese delegation to the forum, said he is looking forward to seeing a cultural bridge built across the Taiwan Strait to accompany the existing commerce and trade bridge. 