BEIJING, May 14 -- A spokesman from the Chinese mainland on Wednesday said the week-long 6th Straits Forum will kick off on June 14 in Xiamen, a port city in Fujian Province on the western side of the Taiwan Strait.

The event will feature an array of activities on grassroots exchanges between Taiwan and the mainland, said Ma Xiaoguang, spokesman of the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office (SCTAO), at a regular press conference.

Ma confirmed that Zhang Zhijun, head of the SCTAO, will "definitely" visit Taiwan according to agreements.

"Zhang's visit is an important step to establish an exchange mechanism between SCTAO and Taiwan's mainland affairs authority," said Ma.

The spokesman also took a question on whether the right for people to visit family members across the strait will be discussed in the next phase of negotiation between the mainland-based Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits and Taiwan-based Straits Exchange Foundation. Ma said both sides are in negotiations on the issue, but no further details are available.

He added that the Chinese mainland is pleased to see cross-Strait offices set up in the future to better serve the interests of the Chinese people.