The program to develop financial operations with cross-strait characteristics, which aims to help the financial industry more fully take advantage of the benefits of being established on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, better integrate the economic and trade operations of Taiwanese enterprises on mainland China, and expand the cross-strait financial market's operating niche, is already garnering significant results, Premier Jiang Yi-huah said today.
The premier, who made these remarks after a Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) update on the project's implementation, affirmed the efforts of the FSC, Central Bank of the Republic of China (Taiwan) (CBC), Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) and related agencies on the program.
As of January 2014, the amount of renminbi (RMB) deposits in Taiwan had already surpassed NT$200 billion (US$6.6 billion), Jiang pointed out. He asked the FSC and CBC to continue undertaking deregulation reviews and encouraging financial firms to develop more operations with cross-strait characteristics. He also called for the establishment of an RMB backflow mechanism, which would benefit ROC development of offshore RMB centers. These actions will raise the ROC financial industry's regional competitiveness, he stated.
Certain initiatives of the program can only be implemented after the Cross-Strait Agreement on Trade in Services (now pending legislative approval) takes effect, Jiang pointed out, and he asked agencies such as the FSC, Ministry of Economic Affairs and MAC to win support for that accord from the Legislature and the public so it may come to pass soon.
The 10 highlights of the plan to develop financial operations with cross-strait characteristics include the following, noted the FSC:
- Comprehensively launching domestic banking units (DBUs or foreign exchange designated banks) for renminbi-denominated businesses
- Instituting modern cross-strait cash-flow platforms
- Assisting Taiwanese financial institutions to set up branches or offices on the mainland to serve Taiwanese businesses
- Permitting outstanding overseas enterprises with Taiwanese backgrounds to be listed on Taiwan's stock exchanges and over-the-counter markets
- Developing asset and wealth management businesses in the greater Chinese-speaking areas
- Removing obstacles to cooperation on supervision and vying for advantageous conditions for Taiwanese businesses to enter the mainland market
The program will help aggregate domestic investment capital and energy, raise economic growth, increase the Taiwanese financial industry's regional competitiveness and strengthen its operational structure, the FSC said.