Some will say that Ma is at the end of his mandate but the two leaders' meeting signals that the Chinese mainland and Taiwan are moving towardmore coordination.
Xi Jinping said Saturday the two sides across the Taiwan Strait should prove with concrete moves to the world that the Chinese from both sides have the capabilities and wisdom to solve their own problems.
Xi Jinping called on the two sides across the Taiwan Straits to prevent historical tragedy from repeating itself in a historic meeting between leaders across the Straits in Singapore Saturday.
Xi Jinping and Ma Ying-jeou shook hands on Saturday afternoon in Singapore in the first meeting between leaders of the two sides of the Taiwan Straits since 1949, opening up a historic page in cross-Straits relations.
"Today will be remembered in history," Xi Jinping said in a meeting between leaders of the two sides of the Taiwan Straits.
Relations across the Taiwan Straits are now at a crossroad, and leaders on both sides ought to make wise decisions that could stand the test of history.
Xi Jinping and Ma Ying-jeou are to meet at 3 pm Saturday, marking the first face-to-face communication between the two leaders across the Straits since 1949.
According to reports from Taiwan media, Ma will present two gifts to the president.
Ma Ying-jeou, the leader of Taiwan, leaves Taipei this morning for the scheduled meeting with Xi Jinping in Singapore.
The heads of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the Kuomintang (KMT) have shaken hands several times over the past decade, though the leaders of the two sides of the Taiwan Straits have never met before,