Delegation of Taiwan Federation of Industries Visits BeijingThe leader of a Taiwanese business association flew to the mainland on Sunday is said to meet President Jiang Zemin, as the island's new authorities planned to ease controls on mainland-bound investments.But when asked to comment on his scheduled meeting with President Jiang, Lin Kun-chung, head of the Taiwan Federation of Industries, said only that his concerns were centered on the protection of Taiwanese interests in the mainland. "We'll see what kind of service we can do for Taiwanese businessmen there," Lin said ahead of his departure. The trip was the first in three years by the head of the federation, which has tens of thousands of members in Taiwan. In 1996 then-Taiwan leader Lee Teng-hui banned projects exceeding 50 million dollars and imposed restrictions on the high-tech and infrastructure sectors. But the current authorities is now planning to ease investment restrictions, boosting the competiveness of local businesses in the Chinese mainland market when the mainland is expected to open its markets wider following entry into the World Trade Organization later this year. An official from the "Taiwan Economic Department" said last week the Taiwan authorities was considering the possibility of raising the percentage of industries permitted to invest in the mainland from 72 to 94 percent. Projects in the remaining 6 percent - mainly high-tech sectors - would remain forbidden or require special approval, the official said. |
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