The newly-elected chairman of Taiwan's ruling Kuomintang (KMT) said Sunday that he plans to visit the Chinese mainland in May, local media reported.

Eric Chu Li-luan, the KMT chairman, and also the mayor of New Taipei City in Taiwan, said he plans to head a delegation to attend a cross-Straits forum to be held at the beginning of May in Shanghai, the Taiwan-based Central News Agency (CNA) reported.

Chu said he plans to discuss cross-Straits cultural and people-to-people exchanges at the forum, in addition to economic and trade issues.

Taiwan leader Ma Ying-jeou also voiced his support for Chu's visit and encouraged him to maintain cross-Straits ties, according to news portal taiwan.cn.

Analysts have been expecting a meeting between the KMT chairman and General Secretary of the Communist Party of China Xi Jinping during the forum, which would be the first visit to the mainland by a KMT chief since 2008.

The Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council has previously expressed in March that the mainland would welcome Chu's visit.