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Exchange of NT$ extended

By Tong Hao (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-10-14 08:07

The entire mainland province of Fujian can now exchange renminbi and the new Taiwan dollar at Bank of China. Previously, only five cities were afforded the privilege.

The move, which came into effect this month, was made to enable more people from Taiwan island to live or work more easily in the mainland province.

The five cities to which the exchange was previously limited were Fuzhou, Xiamen, Zhangzhou, Quanzhou and Putian, all of them on the coast.

The policy was approved by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange and the country's central bank, People's Bank of China.

Fujian is the only mainland province that carries out such currency exchange business.

"The policy brings much convenience to my life and business in Fujian. When I traveled in the province before, I had to prepare some renminbi in advance, and now I'll just bring some new Taiwan dollars directly," said Zhang Zhiwen, a businessman from Taiwan who has run a golf equipment business in Fujian since 1995.

"When I tried to send the renminbi I made on the mainland back to Taiwan, I had to first exchange it for US dollars and then exchange US dollars for new Taiwan dollars. The policy now saves me a lot of time and reduces my losses caused by exchange rate fluctuations among the three currencies."

Zhang Qiu, deputy director of Fujian's provincial department of foreign trade and economic cooperation, said: "I think the enlargement policy is also a good news for the inland cities of Fujian to attract investment from Taiwan. At present, investment from the island mainly focuses on coastal cities."

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In recent years, Fujian has been playing a leading role in financial cooperation between the mainland and Taiwan. Bank of China started to exchange renminbi and the new Taiwan dollar in Xiamen and Fuzhou in 1998.

In December 2008, Fubon Financial Holding Co bought 19.99 percent of Xiamen City Commercial Bank through its subsidiary in Hong Kong, making it the first Taiwan-based financial institution to indirectly invest in the mainland's banking sector. In the same year, the first insurance company jointly owned by mainland and Taiwan investors, King Dragon Life Insurance Co Ltd, was based in Xiamen.