Taiwan's investment in China shot up 51.05% to US$7 B. in 2004

Taipei, Jan. 24, 2005 (CENS)--Approved Taiwanese investment in mainland China posted a sharp annual growth of 51.05% to near US$7 billion in 2004, according to statistics released by the Investment Commission under the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA).

A total of 2,004 China-bound investment cases were approved last year, up9.09% from a year earlier. If including the approved cases valued at under US$200,000 each, the number of such investment cases should expand to 5,911, with an additional investment value of US$481 million.

MOEA noted that Taiwanese investment in the mainland is very likely to break the US$10 billion mark this year as mainland Chinese authority will remove more barriers on external trade and further open its financial service market in line with the rules set by the World Trade Organization (WTO). Besides, Taiwanese investors are quite interested in the potential market niches to be induced from Summer Olympic Games, which is scheduled to be held in Beijing in 2008.

However, MOEA warned that Taiwanese investors should not neglect the possible investment risks in the mainland, including the continuing pressure on the appreciation of renminbi (Chinese yuan), the influence of microeconomic control policy adopted by Beijing authority, and the shortage of water & electricity, there. MOEA suggested that Taiwanese investors diversify their investment and carefully assess the market in the mainland before launching any investment there.