China's 18th Cross-Strait Forum Scheduled for Mid-June in Fujian
Beijing's decision to proceed with the annual civilian-track forum signals continued pursuit of people-to-people engagement with Taiwan even as official political dialogue between the two sides...
The 18th Cross-Strait Forum will be held in Fujian Province in mid-June 2026, with the main plenary session scheduled for June 13, according to a statement by Taiwan Affairs Office spokesperson Zhu Fenglian at a June 3 routine press conference, as reported by Xinhua News Agency (news.xmnn.cn, June 4, 2026). The primary venue will be Xiamen, with additional activities distributed across multiple Fujian prefecture-level cities and the Pingtan Comprehensive Experimental Zone.
The forum, now in its 18th consecutive year, is organized around four thematic tracks — grassroots exchange, youth exchange, cultural exchange, and economic exchange — comprising a total of 58 scheduled activities, according to Zhu's statement. Organizers have described the forum's orientation as 'civilian, grassroots, and broad-based,' a characterization repeated in official announcements across multiple prior editions of the event.
Invited participants are reported to include representatives from Taiwan-based political parties as well as members of trade unions, youth organizations, women's groups, folk religious associations, agricultural and fishery sectors, cultural and tourism industries, healthcare, and commercial and financial communities, per the same Zhu statement. No specific party names or delegate counts were disclosed in the June 3 announcement.
A press center is to be established for the forum, and media accreditation notices are expected to be issued separately, according to the spokesperson. Organizers stated that preparatory work is proceeding on schedule, though no budget figures, funding sources, or attendance projections for this year's forum were included in the public announcement.
What remains unknown: the full list of participating Taiwan-side organizations and political party representatives, total attendance figures, and the forum's operating budget. Public disclosure of those details, if any, would most likely appear in subsequent Taiwan Affairs Office press briefings or in official forum registration documents released through the forum's organizing committee.