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    China Business
     Oct 8, 2005
Taiwan studying trial NT$-yuan exchange: Hsieh

TAIPEI - Taiwan-China currency exchange services that began this week on Kinmen and Matsu islands on a trial basis have gained a warm public response, and the government will further study the issue to better serve the people, Taiwan Premier Frank Hsieh said October 5.

Hsieh issued the instruction during a weekly Cabinet meeting, in which relevant government agencies, such as the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) and the Central Bank of China, were required to conduct an assessment which will serve as a foundation for future



government policymaking after the current trial period has ended. The government will move ahead with the service and gauge the possibility of establishing a currency settlement system between the new Taiwan dollar and the yuan, the premier said.

The new Taiwan dollar-yuan exchange services began Monday on the outlying Kinmen and Matsu islands, from where China-bound passengers, mainly Taiwan businessmen and tourists, can use their direct shipping links to Xiamen and Fuzhou in China's Fujian province - popularly called the "mini three links" - that were opened in January, 2001. Transactions were sluggish on the first day due to a bypassing typhoon, but trading worth more than 700,000 yuan was made on Tuesday.

Taiwan passengers highly praised the service, saying that the measure helps them save a lot of trouble in exchanging yuan and provides them with a legal channel to get rid of fake Chinese currency despite the fact that the exchange rate is a little higher on Kinmen and Matsu than on Chinese black markets. In the past, Taiwan visitors had to approach local tourist agencies on Kinmen and Matsu or black markets in China to exchange new Taiwan dollars to yuan - a practice that made many of them suffer monetary losses when taking in fake notes.

(Asia Pulse/CNA)

 

 
 



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