Taiwan's Investments in China Grow 30% in First Two Months

Taipei, March 24, 2011 (CENS)--Taiwan's investments in China totaled US$1.82 billion in the first two months of this year, representing a 33.29% year-on-year growth, according to statistics compiled by the Investment Commission under the Ministry of Economic Affairs.

The largest investment project so far this year was launched by Chinatrust Commercial Bank, which budgeted US$120 million to branch out in Shanghai municipality. Chinatrust is the seven Taiwanese bank to set up a branch in China, trailing Land Bank of Taiwan, First Bank, Chang Hwa Bank, Taiwan Cooperative Bank, Cathay United Bank and Hua Nan Bank.

The second-largest investment project was made by Compal Electronics Corp. which applied for remitting US$100 million to set up a subsidiary in Sichuan Province.

Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp., one of Taiwan's leading manufacturers of TFT-LCD (thin film transistor-liquid crystal display) panels, has won approval from the Investment Commission to invest US$65 million to expand production capacity of its panel module plant in Ningbo of Zhejiang Province.

Formosa Plastics Corp. has applied for remitting out US$57.5 million to set up a subsidiary in Ningbo to handle production and sales of EVA (ethylenevinyl acetate). The establishment of the subsidiary in Ningbo is a part of the FPC's second-stage expansion project in Ningbo.

The Investment Commission said the number of China-bound investment projects came to 115 with total investments of US$28.8 million in the first two months of this year.

Conversely, China invested US$6.909 million in Taiwan in the first two months of this year, down 77.85% from a year earlier. Since Taiwan liberalized investments by China enterprises in July 2009, the number of investment projects launched by China enterprises has reached 120 with an overall investment of US$138.74 million.