Investors in Taiwan are allowed to invest in Chinese mainland red-chip stocks listed in Hong Kong and Macao through brokerage firms, local financial authorities announced Wednesday.

The authorities approved the trade of 100 red-chip shares in mainland companies including China Mobile, the mainland's largest mobile phone operator, computer producer Lenovo and China Unicom, another telecommunication company.

Red-chip shares are issued by enterprises that are based in the mainland but incorporated internationally.

According to the commission, the deals should be conducted via consignment, in which investors entrusted local securities brokerage firms to invest, and then the firms consigned the investment to brokerage firms outside Taiwan.

Taiwan people are also permitted to deal in ETFs (exchange-traded funds) that track the performances of red-chip shares, H stocks (Hong Kong-listed stocks issued by mainland enterprises), and A stocks (mainland-listed shares that are confined to mainland investors).

The move is seen as another relaxation on purchases of mainland-related stocks. The Taiwan authorities lifted limits on local funds' investing in red-chip and H shares in Hong Kong in July 2008.