Reporters' Log

First mainland bank to enter Taiwan soon, official says

By Xin Zhiming (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2009-03-07 17:04

A Fujian-based commercial bank will become one of the first Chinese mainland banks to set up shop in Taiwan, said a local Taiwan affairs office official on Saturday.

Related readings:  Closer financial cooperation between Mainland and Taiwan  China Merchants Bank seek to launch branch in Taiwan  Taiwan's banks start renminbi services  Taiwan banks given active business signal

"A local shareholding commercial bank will be allowed to enter Taiwan," Deng Benyuan, head of the Fujian Taiwan affairs office, told China Daily. But he did not name the bank or provide a timetable for the move.

The mainland and Taiwan will reportedly sign a memorandum of understanding regarding financial cooperation by the second quarter of this year, after which the mainland's banking regulators would hopefully allow Fujian-based Industrial Bank, Shanghai Pudong Development Bank, China Merchants Bank and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China to enter the Taiwan market.

Fujian, which faces Taiwan across the Taiwan Straits, will allow the new Taiwan dollar to be exchanged into the yuan in all of its regions to accommodate Taiwan people in the mainland, said Deng.

The new Taiwan dollar can currently be exchanged into yuan in Bank of China in five Fujian cities on a trial basis - Fuzhou, Xiamen, Zhangzhou, Quanzhou and Putian. "We have applied to allow the business to be conducted by all commercial banks in all regions of Fujian," Deng told China Daily.

"We will engage in closer cooperation with Taiwan to help Taiwan financial institutions cope with the global financial crisis," he said.

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