Taipei - The head of Taiwan's ruling Kuomintang (KMT) party is to visit China next month at the invitation of President Hu Jintao, the party said Tuesday.

KMT Chairman Wu Poh-hsiung has accepted the invitation of Hu, who also heads China's Communist Party, to visit Nanjing and Beijing starting June 1.

Wu will visit Nanjing to attend events commemorating KMT founder Sun Yat-sen whose remains were re-buried in the city in 1929, four years after his death.

KMT spokesman Chang Jung-kung said President Ma Ying-jeou supports the visit, thinking the trip is conducive to promoting cross-strait peace and stability.

Taiwan's KMT used to be the ruling party of China before 1949.

After the Republic of China lost the Chinese Civil War to the Communists in 1949, the government fled to Taiwan to set up its government-in-exile, while the Communists founded the People's Republic of China, with its capital in Beijing.

Cross-strait detente gained momentum after Ma became president in May 2008.

Wu visited China in May 2008. (dpa)