Kuomintang (KMT) Chairman Lien Chan said in this east China city Wednesday morning it is an across-Straits aspiration to "continuously boost the Taiwan economy" and "further develop the mainland into a well-off society".

In a speech delivered immediately after paying respects at the Mausoleum of the KMT founder Dr. Sun Yat-sen (1886-1925), Lien called the aspiration a goal that both sides at the Taiwan Straits should "strive to achieve in a peaceful and going-all-out mentality" against the backdrop of the current "stalemate" in cross-Straits relations.

Calling Chinese jointly to strive for common prosperity, Lien said that "Chinese should hold their heads high in the 21st century."

The KMT Chairman also lead a thank-you applaud for the "perfect protection" of Dr. Sun Yat-sen's mausoleum conducted by local administration.

Although security was tightened at the Mausoleum due to Lien's visit, the Mausoleum's administration did not ban common tourists from visiting the imposing site on Wednesday.

Now the capital city of east China's Jiangsu Province, Nanjing was once China's national capital when the country was under the rule of the KMT from 1920s to 1940s.

At the invitation of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and General Secretary Hu Jintao, Lien led a KMT delegation to visit the mainland cities of Nanjing, Beijing, Xi'an and Shanghai from April 26 to May 3.

It is the first visit to the mainland by the top leader of the KMT since the party lost a civil war and fled to the island province of Taiwan in 1949.