GUANGZHOU, July 10 (Xinhua) -- The sixth Cross-Strait Economic, Trade and Culture Forum, sponsored by Taiwan's Kuomintang (KMT) Party and the Chinese mainland's Communist Party of China (CPC), opened Saturday in Guangzhou in south China.

More than 400 people from Taiwan and the mainland attended this year's forum, which focuses on closer cross-Strait economic cooperation, and collaboration in green energy, energy conservation and environment protection.

Since its inception in 2006, the Cross-Strait Economic, Trade and Culture Forum has become an important platform for CPC-KMT dialogues and for exchanges between people on both sides of the Taiwan Strait.

Following are some key facts chronicling the forum's development:

-- A cross-Strait economic and trade forum and a cross-Strait agricultural cooperation forum was held in Beijing and southern province of Hainan in April and October 2006 respectively. A total of 35 favorable policies to boost cross-Strait cooperation were announced at the two forums.

The two forums were later referred to as the first two Cross-Strait Economic, Trade and Culture Forums.

-- In April 2007, the third Cross-Strait Economic, Trade and Culture Forum opened in Beijing.

A total of 13 new policies to promote mainland-Taiwan economic, trade and cultural ties were announced at the forum, including authorizing three more mainland cities - Guangzhou, Qingdao and Wuhan - to issue valid passes for Taiwan visitors entering the mainland, and opening 15 qualification tests for Taiwan professionals.

-- The fourth Cross-Strait Economic, Trade and Culture Forum opened in Shanghai in December 2008, during which the Chinese mainland announced 10 measures of economic cooperation with Taiwan to jointly cope with the global financial crisis.

The measures included support for the development, transformation and upgrading of Taiwanese-funded companies on the mainland, promotion of two-way investment, improving financing services for Taiwanese-funded enterprises, and so on.

-- In July 2009, the fifth Cross-Strait Economic, Trade and Culture Forum was held in central China's Changsha City.

A proposal demanding closer cross-Strait cultural exchanges and cooperation between the cultural industries in addition to educational and media institutions, was presented at the forum.

A package of favorable policies to boost cultural and educational exchanges between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan were also announced.