Print

Mail

wiki links

Government gives nod to direct exchanges of yuan

The Cabinet yesterday decided to allow currency exchanges between the NT dollar and the yuan in Taiwan proper in preparation for the arrival of Chinese tourists.

The proposal, which was drafted by the central bank and details regulations for the currency exchanges, was passed during the weekly Cabinet meeting.

The proposal followed an amendment to the Statute Governing the Relations Between the Peoples of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (兩岸人民關係條例) that was passed by the legislature on June 12, legalizing the exchanges.

Beginning on Monday, banks and foreign exchange stations will be allowed to apply for the right to handle the exchanges, Cabinet officials said.

“The implementation will offer Chinese tourists convenience and put an end to illegal circulation of yuan,” Lin Sun-yuan (林孫源), deputy director-general of the department of foreign exchange, told a press conference after the meeting.

Taiwanese and Chinese travelers will be allowed to exchange up to 20,000 yuan per transaction at government-designated financial institutions and exchange counters, Lin said, adding that this was a “short-term” policy.

In the long term, the government would continue talks with Chinese authorities through the Straits Exchange Foundation on a cross-strait currency clearance mechanism to “normalize and systematize” the handling of the NT dollar and yuan in each other’s countries, Lin said.

The Ministry of Finance has allowed Taiwanese to bring up to 6,000 yuan into the country since March 1, 2004, although direct NT dollar-to-yuan exchanges are prohibited in Taiwan except for designated locations in Kinmen. People who want to exchange yuan into NT dollars must go through a two-step process by converting yuan into US dollars or any other foreign currency and then exchanging the foreign currency for NT dollars.

In October 2005, Taiwan set up a small-scale NT dollar-to-yuan exchange system on Kinmen and Matsu for individuals, with a limit of 20,000 yuan per transaction.

To cope with the expansion of the currency exchange system, the central bank has trained 4,840 banking employees in determining the authenticity of Chinese bank notes and installed 1,358 counterfeit money detectors in financial institutions around country, Lin said.

Additional reporting by CNA

Also See: Tourism Bureau seeks to distribute Chinese flights
This story has been viewed 1067 times.