Ma Ying-jeou, former chairman of the Kuomintang in Taiwan, said on Tuesday that both sides of the Taiwan Strait should cooperate to avoid war and work together to rejuvenate the Chinese nation.

He made the remarks during a visit to the former residence of Sun Yat-sen, the renowned Chinese revolutionary and statesman, in Guangdong province with a Taiwan youth delegation on the second day of his visit to the Chinese mainland.

Sun was born in 1866 in the former residence and died in 1925.He is known to the Chinese people as a great pioneer of China's democratic revolution for his leading role in the 1911 Revolution, which ended thousands of years of feudal rule in China.

He also lived in the former residence several times in the 1890s and 1910s.

"Dr. Sun Yat-sen is the idol I've admired all my life. Today, as I visited his former residence, I was deeply moved," Ma said in a group interview.

"One hundred and thirteen years ago, Chinese society was marked by extreme poverty and backwardness, and the people could not see hope."

Sun led the revolution for 40 years, striving to make the country more prosperous and to seek happiness for the people, Ma said, adding that Sun was a great man whose influence is everlasting for both sides of the Taiwan Strait.

"The people on both sides of the Strait belong to the Chinese nation and are all descendants of the Yan Emperor and Yellow Emperor," Ma said.

"I hope that people across the Strait can remember Dr. Sun's teachings-'peace, struggle, save China'.

"I earnestly hope that both sides can cooperate together, avoid war, commit to peace, struggle, rejuvenate China, and jointly create peace and prosperity.

"This is also the greatest wish of our generation of Chinese people."

Ma led the youth delegation in offering a flower basket to a statue of Sun inside the museum near the former residence.

The 20 members of the youth delegation also toured the former residence and viewed a museum exhibition detailing Sun's upbringing and revolutionary history.

Ma and his group also visited the office of BYD, China's largest electric vehicle manufacturer, and the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge on Tuesday.

At BYD's office, accompanied by Song Tao, head of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, Ma learned about the company's most advanced electric vehicle technology and products and inquired about the mainland's incentive policies for promoting electric vehicles.

"Which one is the most effective policy encouraging electric vehicles?" he asked.

A BYD executive responded that "the most effective measure is 6.6 million charging piles, or the supporting infrastructure."

According to the National Development and Reform Commission, the Chinese mainland had built more than 6.6 million charging piles of various types nationwide by the end of June last year.

Song added that new energy vehicles enjoy certain preferential policies regarding road use rights and license plate distribution, making more consumers willing to purchase electric vehicles.

In the afternoon, Ma and his group visited the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge to learn about its construction and operation.