RPT-Taiwan to allow banks to invest in China

(Repeats for wider distribution)

TAIPEI, March 12 (Reuters) - Taiwan will allow its banks to invest in neighbouring Chinese lenders in a move that will help Taiwan banks better serve their client base in China.

The move was cheered by investors, who see the vast China market as one of the best opportunities for Taiwan banks which already face stiff competition in their mature home market.

The Taiwan government said on Wednesday that banks in Taiwan, Asia's fourth-largest banking market, can invest in Chinese lenders via their off-shore subsidiaries, said Premier Chang Chun-hsiung, while declining to give a timetable.

"We're going to let Taiwan banks' offshore units invest in Chinese banks," he told reporters after the Cabinet's regular weekly meeting. (Reporting by Faith Hung, editing by Jean Yoon and Ken Wills)