Taiwan may allow residency for investors from China and elsewhere to attract more funds to the nation and support the economy.
“We hope to attract not just Chinese investors, but also other international investors as this is in line with our goal of making Taiwan an international financial hub,” Lu Ting-chieh (盧廷劼), chief secretary at the Financial Supervisory Commission said by telephone yesterday.
China Mobile Ltd (中國移動) last week said it agreed to buy 12 percent of Taiwan’s Far EasTone Telecommunications Co (遠傳), the first investment by a Chinese state-owned company in Taiwan since a civil war ended six decades ago.
Taiwan is considering residency for Chinese who invest between US$3 million and US$5 million, the Economic Daily News reported, citing FSC head Sean Chen (陳冲).
The FSC is discussing with other government agencies whether to ease rules that require visitors to stay for at least 183 days to qualify for lower income tax rates for residents, Lu said.
The Mainland Affairs Council yesterday denied the plan to grant residency for investors from China.
“The council has no plan to open up permanent residency for any businesspeople or investors from China,” a Central News Agency report yesterday quoted the council’s Deputy Minister Liu Te-shun (劉德勳) as saying.
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