TAIPEI, May 19 (Xinhua) -- Taiwan leader Ma Ying-jeou says improving mainland-Taiwan relations and building cross-Straits peace will be a priority for the island in the next few years.

    Ma made the remark at a Tuesday press conference held in Taipei to mark his one year in office.

    He said Taiwan lost eight-years in the development of cross-Straits relations during ex-leader Chen Shui-bian's administration and that is why the authority has put relations back on the right track in his first year in office.

    Ma said agreements so far achieved by the mainland-based Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) and the Taiwan-based Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) are all beneficial to Taiwan.

    Cross-Straits exchanges should not move backward, and Taiwan will decline and fall into recession if it resumes self-isolation policies, he said.

    Ma welcomed Beijing's new policy of encouraging enterprises to invest in the island, saying Taiwan is happy to see all policies that would benefit cross-Straits economic and trade development.