 |
Taiwan Eases Mainland Bans
Taiwan is to relax controls on trade and investment with the mainland as the two prepare for admission to the World Trade Organization (WTO) next year, the local authorities has announced in Taipei.
It is also set to open "three mini links" in January to legalize direct trade, transportation and other civilian exchanges between Kinmen and Matsu and Fujian province.
Taiwan is also considering opening full direct trading links with the mainland after a half-century freeze before its WTO accession, official sources said.
Officials in Taipei have pledged to ease business restrictions by the end of the year.
Taiwan prohibits mainland-bound projects worth more than US$50 million as well as those in 195 categories, mainly in the hi-tech and infrastructure industries.
The authorities have said the impending liberalization measures are partly to comply with WTO rules. Local entrepreneurs have also pushed for the relaxation of controls to position themselves ahead of Taiwan's entry into the WTO.
Business ties between Taiwan and the mainland have increased significantly since Taipei eased a travel ban in late 1987. But Taipei still forbids official or direct cross-Straits contacts and all civilian exchanges have to be made through third ports, mainly Hong Kong. Despite various controls, Taiwan remains a major investor in the mainland, with an estimated US$45.7 billion worth of projects there at the end of June.
In the expected liberalization package, Taipei would approve on a case-by-case basis investment projects worth more than US$50 million and those in the semiconductor, high-end computer and upstream petrochemical ventures.
Local agricultural officials have also said they would allow Taiwanese businesses to invest in more agricultural concerns in the mainland - more than 500 after Taiwan joins the world body, up from 223.
Meanwhile, controls on investment from the mainland to Taiwan would also be eased, local newspapers have said. Taiwan allows foreign firms with a maximum 20 per cent mainland stake to set up branch offices, but the ceiling would be raised to 50 per cent, the newspapers said.
Local trade officials have also promised to widen imports from the mainland. Some 5,777 items, or 56.4 per cent of Taiwan's imported items, are allowed from the mainland, compared with 96 per cent from other countries.
But Taiwan would continue restricting agricultural imports to protect the local farm industry.
In a goodwill gesture, Taiwan will open its door to mainlanders from the middle of next year to permit business and sightseeing trips. Under present laws, mainlanders can go to Taiwan only to meet sick relatives, attend funerals or join seminars and familiarization tours as specialists.
Several million people from Taiwan have visited the mainland since 1987, mainly for business, sightseeing and family reunions, but only 540,000 mainlanders have traveled to Taiwan.
In opening the "three mini links", Taipei will allow direct trade, transportation and postal services between residents on its fortified outlying islands of Kinmen and Matsu and Fujian province.
Up to 800 people will be allowed to sail to Fujian every day and stay in the mainland for up to a week. Mainlanders can stay in Kinmen and Matsu for the same time.
In This Section
|