More than 60 percent of Taiwanese businesses in China have faced difficulties collecting payments for goods and services delivered to Chinese companies there according to a survey conducted by the Chinese National Federation of Industries (CNFI, 全國工總).
Of the respondents, 61.1 percent said they had the experience of being unable to collect payments in China.
The survey also found that the average size of Taiwanese companies investing in China is growing, with more than half of the respondents saying they have invested more than US$1 million in China.
More than 70 percent believe major obstacles still remain for Taiwanese products to develop markets within China, it said.
The survey was conducted between October and November of last year, based on random sampling of 1,500 out of more than 18,000 Taiwanese businesses in China, with a return ratio of 18.1 percent. It also found that 80.7 percent of the businesses have invested in China on their own, while the rest have opted for various types of joint investments with Chinese firms.
Compared to last year's figures, these types of independent investments have increased dramatically, reflecting a high frequency of business disputes between Taiwanese and their Chinese partners. Such problems are prompting Taiwanese investors to seek more secure transaction methods, the report said.
Nearly 20 percent of the companies polled have invested US$5 million or more in China, while another 35.5 percent invested US$1 million to US$5 million. About 45 percent have invested less than US$1 million in China, the survey said.
China has attracted an increasing number of Taiwan manufacturers who can hire workers at lower rates and sell products to other firms in the world's most populous country.
But the survey indicated that most Taiwanese firms were not doing as well as they expected in the developing market. Over 52 percent described their sales performance in China as "fair" (普通), while 20 percent said sales were "unfavorable" (不理想) and 6.6 percent said "extremely unfavorable" (極不理想). Only 9 percent said they were doing extremely well. About 20 percent said sales were "favorable."
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