The Commercial Times reported that a decision to this effect had been taken at a closed-door meeting between local cabinet-level officials and representatives of Taiwanese businessmen with interests on the Chinese mainland.

Currently, Taiwanese banks have to have operate representative offices on the mainland for two to three years before they are allowed to begin offering branch services.

Taiwanese businessmen have urged the local government to liberalise constraints on banks operating in the Chinese mainland to make it easier for them to do business there.

Some US$70 billion worth of Taiwanese investment has been placed on the Chinese mainland since Taipei first allowed civilian exchanges in late 1987.

So far only eight banks out of a total 53 banks in Taiwan have obtained permissions to open representative offices on the mainland, the paper added.

(Xinhua News Agency February 25, 2002)