Sean Chen's popularity grew in Taiwan when he was the chairman of the Financial Supervisory Commission who signed three memoranda of understanding with his mainland Chinese counter parties in January 2010 in the field of banking, insurance and investments. This was viewed as a major milestone in furthering economic ties with the Chinese, allowing Taiwanese financial institutions access to the mainland's vast and fast-growing markets. In a discussion with Sam Radwan that appeared in an article in Bloomberg Businessweek he showed confidence that he would be able to achieve preferential treatment for Taiwan in what is considered by many foreign financial services institutions to be a market where Chinese regulators have not provided a level playing field.[5]
ROC Premiership
On 6 February 2012, Chen was appointed Premier of the Republic of China in succession to Wu Den-yih. After one year of economic challenges and considerable public criticism, he stepped down from his office on health grounds on 1 February 2013, to be replaced by the Vice Premier Jiang Yi-huah.[6]