Dec. 4 – China and Taiwan will soon formalize a currency trading pact that will allow the direct conversion of the New Taiwan dollar and Chinese renminbi by banks from both countries.
The pact will further ease trade by lowering operating costs and reducing counterfeiting. Hu Xiaolian, the vice governor of the People’s Bank of China from Beijing, told The China Post that Bank of China is likely to be the first bank in mainland China to be allowed to conduct the currency trade.
The pact is expected to be approved before the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA) between the two side is formally signed.
Since currency clearance services would be provided by commercial banks on both sides of the Taiwan Strait, Hu added issues to be worked out include the transport and delivery of the currencies, the opening of accounts in the participating banks, and the compilation of statistics.
Despite a tangled and tense history between the two, China is Taiwan’s largest trade partner. The latest economic pacts will give Taiwan businesses better access to the mainland market, now one of the fastest-growing major economy in the world.
