Minister of Finance Lee Sush-der (李述德) said public financial institutions must not engage in cutthroat competition against each other after gaining a foothold in China.
While state-run banks have less flexibility than their private counterparts in doing business across the Taiwan Strait, their symbolic status and large clientele are important assets keenly sought by Chinese banks in forging joint ventures, Lee was reported as saying by the Chinese-language Commercial Times yesterday.
With many Chinese banking executives mentioning state-run Taiwan Financial Holding Co (台灣金控), Mega Financial Holding Co (兆豐金控) and other state-run banks as possible partners, the Ministry of Finance wants their expansion into China to be orderly, the report said.
“Public banks and financial institutions should cooperate among themselves and maintain order when they move into China,” Lee said. “Cutthroat competition for Taiwanese customers in China will not be permitted.”
Currently, eight Taiwan-based public banks maintain offices in different cities across China, such as Shanghai, Kunshan, Suzhou or Shenzhen, he said.
“These establishments in China can jointly offer large syndicated loans for Taiwanese companies operating there as the basis and start of their joint cooperation,” he added.
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