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As a non-UN member, Taiwan is unable to become a member of the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT), and it is therefore not possible to file applications under this treaty.

Moreover, applicants not resident in Taiwan must appoint a local agent.

Under the Cross-Strait Services Trade Agreement (signed in 2013) with the Chinese Mainland, Chinese e-commerce companies are allowed to invest in Taiwan. Nonetheless the Agreement was never ratified by the Taiwanese parliament.

In March 2015, reports disclosed that the Taiwanese authorities demanded the e-commerce company Alibaba to withdraw from the island within six months accusing investment restrictions violations on Mainland-controlled firms. Alibaba had entered Taiwan as a foreign company through its subsidiary, registered in Singapore. Taiwanese authorities considered Alibaba as a Mainland registred company as more than 30% stake was controlled by Mainland investors. In June 2015, a new application was sent in from Alibaba to Taiwan and the application is currently being reviewed.

Investment screening in mergers and acquisitions occurs when a foreign takeover proposals is equal or above one-third of the controlling stake in Taiwanese firms.

Taiwan authorities may prohibit or restrict investment from Mainland Chinese enterprises that:
- have military shareholders or a military purpose;
- would create a monopoly;
- would threaten national security, or;
- would negatively impact domestic economic development, according to the above-cited regulation.

Foreign investments are requested to obtain approval by the Taiwan Investment Commission, which examines the compliance with the Statute for Investments by Foreign Nationals, including whether the investments may negatively affect national security, public order, good customs and practices, or national health.

There are generally no restrictions regarding the appointment of executive personnel. However, Mainland Chinese investors are prohibited from serving as CEOs, although a Mainland Chinese board member may retain management control rights of a Taiwanese company in most sectors.

State-owned Chunghwa Telecom Co., which controls 97% of the fixed line telecom market, maintains a 55% limit on indirect foreign investment and a 49% limit on foreign direct investment.

Taiwan maintains restrictions for investments from the Chinese Mainland Area in key industries, including light emitting diode (LED) displays, integrated circuit assemblies, semiconductor manufacturing equipment and semiconductor packaging and testing.

Press reports indicate that the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) plans to remove prohibitions on mainland Chinese ownership of controlling stakes in these industries. Instead, it proposes a shareholding ceiling of 50% for mainland Chinese investment and retain a mechanism for screening investment applications on a case-by-case basis.

However, as a result of the controversy over the cross-Strait Agreement on Trade in Services (signed in 2013, but not yet ratified by the Taiwanese parliament), this investment liberalization has been postponed.

Taiwan applies the following restrictions on foreign investments:
- In the wireless and fixed line telecommunications sector a limitation on foreign direct ownership of 60% and a foreign direct investment limit of 49% are applied.
- In the cable television broadcasting service sector a 20% limit is applied on foreign direct investment. Foreign ownership of up to 60% is, however, allowed through indirect investment via a Taiwanese entity.
- There is a foreign ownership limit of 49.99% for satellite television broadcasting services.

Although Chinese Taipei is a signatory to the WTO Government Procurement Agreement (GPA), its coverage schedules do not include "telecommunications related services" (CPC 754) and only partially cover "telecommunications services" (CPC 752), which are both important services sectors for digital trade.

Under the Amendments of Taiwan's Value-added and Non-value-added Business Tax Act, VAT will generally be imposed on foreign enterprises, institutions, groups, or organizations (foreign e-commerce operators - FECOs) without a fixed place of business in Taiwan, who provide e-commerce services to Taiwanese individuals. The FECO must register with Taiwan’s tax authority and file its VAT returns, and pay a levy of 5% on services provided to consumers. The VAT registration threshold for this tax is NTD480,000 (USD16,000).

Under the Company Act, a business entity must register with the Ministry of Economic Affairs and other competent authorities before conducting business in Taiwan. The tax laws also require a business entity to register for each of its operations having a fixed business location in Taiwan. However, if a foreign company renders supervision, installation, testing and other technical cooperation services in Taiwan, it may apply to the tax office for an exemption from the tax registration requirement.

For a top-level .sg domain, a foreign registrant may register a domain name if it appoints a local agent having a valid Singaporean postal address as the Administrative Contact.

For a com.sg domain, the company must be registered in Singapore. A foreign registrant may apply for a .com.sg domain name provided that it appoints a locally registered entity as its Administrative Contact.

In 2013, the Media Development Authority of Singapore issued guidelines providing that all online news websites that provide regular reports on Singapore and have significant reach should acquire an individual license.

Additionally, any news website that covers an average of at least one article per week on Singaporean news and current affairs over a period of two months and reaches at least 50,000 unique Internet Protocol addresses in Singapore over the same two month period requires a special license.

The licensed sites must also put up a performance bond of SGD $50,000 (USD 42,000), similar to that required for niche TV broadcasters. The new license requires holders to take down content that breaches certain standards within 24 hours of being notified by the Singaporean government.