Beijing, Taipei close to cross-strait banking agreements: Official

Taiwan and China may soon sign memorandums of understanding (MOUs) on cross-strait banking, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing comments from the head of Taiwan’s banking bureau. The MOUs would cover the banking, insurance and brokerage sectors and are seen as necessary for Beijing and Taipei to open their markets to each other’s financial institutions. Taiwan officials said that there had been progress toward the signing of MOUs, but did not say when they could be signed. Officials also declined to comment on reasons for the delay in signing a banking MOU. Taiwan’s banks are hoping an agreement would boost their profitability by giving access to the mainland Chinese market.