Straits Exchange Foundation

Straits Exchange Foundation
海峽交流基金會

Formation	21 November 1990 (first meeting) 9 March 1991 (start operation)[1]
Headquarters	Zhongshan, Taipei, Taiwan
Chairperson	Rock Hsu [zh] (acting)
Parent organization	Mainland Affairs Council
Website	www.sef.org.tw (in Chinese)

The Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF; Chinese: 海峽交流基金會; pinyin: Hǎixiá Jiāoliú Jījīnhuì; often abbreviated as 海基會) is a semiofficial organization set up by the Government of the Republic of China (Taiwan) to handle technical and/or business matters with the People's Republic of China (PRC). Though technically a private organization, it is funded by the government and under the supervision of the Mainland Affairs Council of the Executive Yuan. Its role is effectively to function as the de facto embassy to the PRC, as a means of avoiding acknowledgement of the PRC's statehood status.

Its counterpart in the PRC is the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS).