BEIJING -- A political advisor on Wednesday called for the designation of a municipality in southwest China as a forefront to strengthen exchanges between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan.

Li Yuefeng, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), proposed that Chongqing, the only municipality in the western part of the Chinese mainland, be made a pilot city for cross-Strait economic and cultural cooperation.

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He said the move would bridge the development gap between the mainland's booming coastal areas and its relatively underdeveloped central and western regions.

Li, a Standing Committee member of the Central Committee of the Taiwan Democratic Self-Government League (TDSL), made the appeal prior to the opening of the annual session of the National Committee of the CPPCC, China's top political advisory body.

The TDSL is one of the eight non-Communist political parties in the Chinese mainland. They are participatory parties and voice their political views through the system of multi-party cooperation and political consultation under the leadership of the Communist Party of China (CPC).

Li proposed the invitation of banks and financial institutions from Taiwan to settle down in major cities in the western part of the mainland and carry out pilot service of direct settlement between renminbi and New Taiwan dollars.