An application of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) to take up a stake in China-based Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation (SMIC) has been approved by the Investment Commission of Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA), which monitors Taiwanese investment in China.
TSMC is now allowed to receive 1,789,493,218 Hong-Kong listed ordinary shares of SMIC, or approximately 8% of SMIC's shares, as part of an agreement reached in November 2009 to settle their trade secrets dispute.