Chinese President Xi Jinping and Taiwan leader Ma Ying-jeou shook hands and smiled broadly as they met in Singapore, in a scene considered unthinkable until recently.
They later sat down across a table from each other, with Xi praising the summit as opening a "historic chapter in our relations" and repeating China's oft-expressed desire for eventual reunification.
"The development of cross-strait relations over the past 66 years show that no matter what kind of winds and rains are experienced by compatriots on the two sides, no matter how long divisions last, there.
"We are brothers connected by flesh even if our bones are broken, we are a family whose blood is thicker than water.
"Even though this is the first meeting, we feel like old friends," Ma told Xi.