Taiwan relaxes investment restrictions

Taiwan authorities have approved loosening restrictions on how much Taiwan firms can invest in the mainland. Thursday's move drew wide applause from the island's business circles.

Taiwan authorities have approved loosening restrictions on how much Taiwan firms can invest in the mainland.

Effective August 1st, the limit on institutional investment in the mainland will be 60 percent of a company's net value. Currently, the limit is 40 percent for Taiwan companies with a net value of 5 billion New Taiwan dollars, 30 percent for those with a net value of 5 billion to 10 billion New Taiwan dollars, and 20 percent for those with a net value of over 10 billion New Taiwan dollars.

Individuals are now allowed to invest as much as 5 million US dollars, or about 150 million New Taiwan dollars, compared with the current 80 million New Taiwan dollars.

Telecom restructuring to be completed in 6 months

China will complete the restructuring of its telecommunications industry in around 6 months. This is according to Xi Guohua, vice minister of industry and information technology.

Speaking at a press conference, Xi said that China will issue third generation mobile telephony incenses once the restructuring process has been completed. He said that all three major 3G standards, WCDMA, CDMA 2000 and China's home grown TD-SDMA, will be treated fairly and equally when it comes to issuing the licenses.

At present, China is in the process of reshuffling the assets of six of its telecom firms with the aim of improving competitiveness in the sector.