Guernsey Boosts Links With China

by Jason Gorringe, Tax-News.com, London

02 November 2010

The Guernsey government has announced that it received a Chinese delegation, headed by Xiao Jie, Commissioner of the State Administration of Taxation on October 27 to co-sign a Tax Information Exchange Agreement (TIEA).

The TIEA with the People’s Republic of China is the 19th such agreement that Guernsey has finalized with another territory.

Speaking during his visit, Xiao Jie confirmed China’s wish to strengthen its economic and trading relationship with Guernsey. The signing of the TIEA with China, Xiao Jie said, reaffirms Guernsey’s membership in the community of nations committed to establishing an international financial system based on co-operation, transparency and effective exchange of information in tax matters, and China has confirmed that Guernsey will be treated accordingly by the Chinese authorities.

Guernsey's Chief Minister, Lyndon Trott, said:

“I was delighted to welcome Jie, and the rest of the delegation from China, to our island to sign this important agreement. For some considerable time, Guernsey has been making new relationships in, and creating a better economic relationship with, China. Guernsey and China see the signing of the TIEA as another significant step in strengthening our economic links. Indeed, to demonstrate this, in a few days time I leave Guernsey to participate in a visit to China, organized by Guernsey Finance, to further develop these links.”

During this visit to China in the coming weeks, Trott is expected to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Shanghai Municipal Financial Services Office to promote exchange and cooperation in financial services between the two centres.

The delegation will also be continuing to seek approval for Guernsey companies to list on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, progress the signing of an MoU with the China Banking Regulatory Commission and move forward signing a similar MoU with the China Securities Regulatory Commission.

On the subject of tax information exchange, the Guernsey government has announced that it has concluded negotiations on a further twelve agreements, which it expects to be able to sign in the near future.

Alongside the agreement with China, Guernsey has signed TIEAs with Australia, Denmark, the Faroe Islands, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Greenland, Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, San Marino, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States.

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