BEIJING, May 27 -- A meeting between cross-Strait affairs chiefs over the weekend demonstrated the existence of a sound contact mechanism between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan, a spokesperson said on Wednesday.

"[The meeting] showed that institutionalized cross-Strait ties are deepening," spokesperson for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, Fan Liqing, said at a press conference.

During the meeting with Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Chief Andrew Hsia in Kinmen County, Taiwan, on Saturday, the mainland's Taiwan Affairs Chief Zhang Zhijun called for efforts to avoid relations across the Strait regressing to its previous state.

"Both sides should be determined to protect cross-Strait relations from U-turns and setbacks, these are also the shared aspirations of compatriots across the Strait," Zhang said.

Relations between the two sides hit a deadlock after 1949 when the Kuomintang (KMT), led by Chiang Kai-shek, was defeated by the Communist Party of China. Cross-Strait ties improved after KMT won an election in 2008 to run the island.