Chinese airline set to open local branch after submitting documents

Zeng Qingning, spokeswoman for the airline's Taiwan office, said the company has sent the document to Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA), the MOEA's Investment Commission and the Civil Aeronautics Administration under the Ministry of Transportation and Communications to seek approval for the branch.

Zeng said it is unclear when the branch can be opened, but added that relevant arrangements are already being prepared. “We can begin selling tickets once the office gains approval for upgrading to a branch,” she noted.

China Southern Airlines at present employs 25 people in Taiwan, seven of whom are Taiwanese, she noted. The carrier operates four weekly flights between Shanghai and Taipei, four weekly flights between Guangzhou and Taoyuan and four weekly flights between Shenzhen and Taoyvuan.

Meanwhile, Fan Liang-tung, executive secretary of the MOEA's Investment Commission, said a day earlier that the commission will step up the speed with which it processes investment plan submissions put forward by Chinese investors, as many Chinese delegations have visited Taiwan in recent months in search of investment and business opportunities.

During the January-May period this year, the number of Chinese people visiting Taiwan on business averaged more than 7,000 each month, double the previous year's level, according to commission statistics.

The MOEA announced June 30 that with immediate effect, Chinese investment was allowed in 100 types of Taiwanese industries, ranging from manufacturing to service and public construction, and including facilities at commercial port facilities. A set of regulations for applications by Chinese businesses seeking to open subsidiary or branch offices in Taiwan was also announced at the same time.

Brushing aside concerns that Chinese capital invested in local airports and seaports will put Taiwan's national security at stake, the MOEA asserted that Chinese investment will only be allowed in non-restricted zones of commercial ports, such as warehouses, transit hotels, international conference centers and parking lots.

Chinese capital will not be permitted in restricted areas, including airports, runways or repair and maintenance plants, it said.

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