Taiwan and China split in a civil war that brought the Communists to power in China in 1949. The rival Nationalists set up their own government on the island about 160 kilometers off the Chinese mainland.

Xi proposed talks between the two sides to work out "a systematic arrangement for the peaceful development of the cross-strait relationship."

While Xi said that people on both sides want peaceful reunification, it's unclear how his message will be received on the other side of the Taiwan Strait.

Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen said Tuesday that its people want to maintain their self-rule and autonomy.

Xi pledged that unification would be under a one-country, two-system framework that would respect the Taiwanese social system and way of life and guarantee their property rights, religious beliefs and other rights.

"The political disputes that have existed for a long time... affect the healthy and continuous development of the cross-strait relationship and cannot be passed from generation to generation," he said. (AP)