China and Taiwan took one more step towards warmer ties on Wednesday as leaders of the ruling parties on both sides said that semi-official dialogue, suspended since 1999, should be resumed as soon as possible.

The meeting between Hu Jintao, China’s president and leader of the Chinese Communist party, and Wu Poh-hsiung, chairman of the self-governing island’s Kuomintang party, reflects increasingly friendly relations since the KMT’s Ma Ying-jeou won Taiwan’s presidential election in March.