Some 28 high-ranking Taiwanese bankers and academics will visit China next month as the government prepares to allow financial institutions to open representative offices in China, the trip's organizer said yesterday.
The delegation is comprised of Bank of Taiwan (
Former finance ministers Paul Chiu (
The delegates are to fly to Beijing on Sept. 10 for a seminar at Beijing University.
They will also visit major Chinese banks and securities houses during their stay, said an official at Taiwan's Chinese Financial Association (中華金融學會), which organized the trip.
The delegates will discuss with their Chinese counterparts the stability of China's currency, financial crisis management and the impact of WTO entry on the financial sectors in China and Taiwan, the official said.
The visit comes with the Taiwan government about to allow local banks to open representative offices in China.
The Ministry of Finance has drafted rules governing the operations, pending approval from the Mainland Affairs Council (
Chen told a local daily newspaper that only banks with sound operations would be allowed to open offices in China, which would also start liberalizing its banking sector after its admission into the WTO.
"Taiwan banks cannot wait until the mainland market is fully mature to set up its offices there," Chen said.
According to the Chinese regulations, representative offices of foreign banks have to have operated for at least two years before they can apply to open branch operations there, he said.
Several local insurance firms applied to set up representative offices in China earlier this year after getting the green light from Taipei, but none had yet received approval from China, he added.
The allowance for local banks to set up representative offices in China will enhance the international competitiveness of local financial industries after Taiwan's accession to WTO.
"The total capital investment amount by Taiwanese businessmen in China has reached US$30 billion, and the high foreign exchange charges have gone into the pockets of Chinese-invested or foreign banks," said Luo Huai-jia (羅懷家), vice director of the industry policy center at the Taiwan Electrical and Electronic Manufacturers' Association (台灣區電機電子工業同業公會).
Three experts in the high technology industry have said that US President Donald Trump’s pledge to impose higher tariffs on Taiwanese semiconductors is part of an effort to force Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) to the negotiating table. In a speech to Republicans on Jan. 27, Trump said he intends to impose tariffs on Taiwan to bring chip production to the US. “The incentive is going to be they’re not going to want to pay a 25, 50 or even a 100 percent tax,” he said. Darson Chiu (邱達生), an economics professor at Taichung-based Tunghai University and director-general of
‘LEGACY CHIPS’: Chinese companies have dramatically increased mature chip production capacity, but the West’s drive for secure supply chains offers a lifeline for Taiwan When Powerchip Technology Corp (力晶科技) entered a deal with the eastern Chinese city of Hefei in 2015 to set up a new chip foundry, it hoped the move would help provide better access to the promising Chinese market. However, nine years later, that Chinese foundry, Nexchip Semiconductor Corp (合晶集成), has become one of its biggest rivals in the legacy chip space, leveraging steep discounts after Beijing’s localization call forced Powerchip to give up the once-lucrative business making integrated circuits for Chinese flat panels. Nexchip is among Chinese foundries quickly winning market share in the crucial US$56.3 billion industry of so-called legacy
Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) is reportedly making another pass at Nissan Motor Co, as the Japanese automaker's tie-up with Honda Motor Co falls apart. Nissan shares rose as much as 6 percent after Taiwan’s Central News Agency reported that Hon Hai chairman Young Liu (劉揚偉) instructed former Nissan executive Jun Seki to connect with French carmaker Renault SA, which holds about 36 percent of Nissan’s stock. Hon Hai, the Taiwanese iPhone-maker also known as Foxconn Technology Group (富士康科技集團), was exploring an investment or buyout of Nissan last year, but backed off in December after the Japanese carmaker penned a deal
WASHINGTON POLICY: Tariffs of 10 percent or more and other new costs are tipped to hit shipments of small parcels, cutting export growth by 1.3 percentage points The decision by US President Donald Trump to ban Chinese companies from using a US tariff loophole would hit tens of billions of dollars of trade and reduce China’s economic growth this year, according to new estimates by economists at Nomura Holdings Inc. According to Nomura’s estimates, last year companies such as Shein (希音) and PDD Holdings Inc’s (拼多多控股) Temu shipped US$46 billion of small parcels to the US to take advantage of the rule that allows items with a declared value under US$800 to enter the US tariff-free. Tariffs of 10 percent or more and other new costs would slash such