Chinese Corporate Delegation Probing Investment Opportunities in Taiwan

Taipei, Feb. 24, 2011 (CENS)--Chen Yunlin, chairman of the Association for Relations Across Taiwan Straits (ARATS), led a delegation consisting of 50 Chinese corporate representatives to probe investment opportunities in Taiwan, including such emerging industries as new energy and LED (light-emitting diode).

The delegation is part of the effort on the part ARATS to augment Chinese investments in Taiwan, which Chen admitted is far from satisfactory. Chen pointed out that there had been only 73 Chinese investment cases, totaling US$153 million in value, over the past one and a half years since the Taiwanese government issued a green light for Chinese investments in Taiwan in June 2009. The amount is only a fraction of Taiwanese investments in China.

Chen noted that the delegation consists not only of representatives from state enterprises under the jurisdiction of the central government but also Chinese enterprises on the list of the global top 500. Members of the delegation expressed strong interest in investing in Taiwan, including Feng Chun, chairman of Aigo Digital Company, a consumer-electronics maker, who remarked that cross-Strait cooperation can create a tremendous synergy of “one plus one equals eleven.”

In response, P.K. Chiang, chairman of Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), stated that the government is studying how to expand the investment scope for Chinese enterprises and provide more convenient arrangement for Chinese investments, such as that concerning residence of Chinese corporate representatives in Taiwan.

Kao Koong-lian, vice SEF chairman, reported that SEF will coordinate with related government units relaxing restrictions on visits by Chinese corporate representatives to Taiwan, such as allowing them to visit the island once for a maximum stay of two months, extendable to four months, even before the incorporation of their companies in Taiwan.