On the Taiwan side, Vincent Siew had just been elected vice president, but had not yet taken office. He was therefore free to travel to China as a private citizen and there advocate for his proposed cross-strait common market. On the other side of the strait, China was reeling from protests during its Olympic torch relay over its handling of Tibetan unrest and needed positive news from the forum to burnish its international image.
台灣方面，總統大選剛揭曉，副總統當選人蕭萬長尚未就任，沒有正式官方身份而保有進出中國的自由空間，可為其強打的「兩岸共同市場」政見奠基鋪路；而中國則因西藏動亂喧騰國際，部分國家杯葛北京奧運聖火傳遞，亟需藉此轉移焦點、贏回國際形象。