The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) yesterday announced that the government will lift the ceiling on the number of Chinese professionals visiting Taiwan for the purposes of business from 30 people to 50 people for each trip.
MAC Vice Chairman Liu Te-shun (劉德勳) yesterday held a press conference to publicize the policy amendment, saying the new rule was aimed at implementing one of the conclusions reached at the Conference on Sustaining Taiwan's Economic Development held by the Executive Yuan in July.
To increase the incentives for multinationals to set up operations centers in Taiwan, one of the conclusions reached in the conference was to relax the limits on the number and qualifications of Chinese staff who work for multinationals to attend meetings or related activities in Taiwan, Liu said.
revision
The Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the MAC have discussed revising Article Six of the amendments to the Regulations Governing the People of the Mainland Area Engaging In Business Affairs In Taiwan (大陸地區人民來臺從事商務活動許可辦法), a by-law of the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) and the MAC passed the revised amendment yesterday, he added.
The revision will allow branches of foreign companies in Taiwan or local companies that have a total turnover of more than NT$30 million (US$910,000) to invite up to 50 Chinese business professionals to come to Taiwan for meetings or visits.
Previously, the maximum number of Chinese visitors was 30 people for each company each time.
For large international corporations, such as Johnson & Johnson and Microsoft Corp, the government will deal with their applications on a case by case basis, Liu said.
Liu said that the new revision will be submitted to the Executive Yuan for ratification and hopefully would be implemented on Oct. 19.
Meanwhile, the MAC also announced a standard operating procedure for dealing with ships that commit trafficking, or smuggling offenses, or carry illegal Chinese immigrants.
A detailed list of punishments for ship owners who are involved in illegal activity was issued.
This described how vessels would be confiscated and the licenses of captains and ships revoked.
Liu said that the flowchart for dealing with ships will establish a more effective model for handling such cases and would help the Coast Guard Administration, the Council of Agriculture and the Ministry of Transportation and Communications, all of which deal with any cases related to illegal trafficking and smuggling.
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