The government may be about to lift its ban on local 8-inch chip manufacturers investing in China, Chinese-language media reported yesterday.
A Chinese-language newspaper said that the decision will be made when a special committee of the economic ministry meets later this month.
"The snag is how to manage such investments, not whether they should be permitted," the paper quoted an unnamed official as saying.
Taiwan Semiconductor Manu-facturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) Chairman Morris Chang (張忠謀) publicly criticized the investment ban last month. He said that local enterprises had lost numerous business opportunities because of the ban.
The government has been reluctant to lift the ban, fearing that the nation's entire industrial sector would eventually be hollowed out. Sources believe that the government may impose a ceiling of NT$20 billion (US$571.9 million) to NT$22 billion (US$629.1 million) annually on total China-bound 8-inch-wafer plant investments.
Constructing an 8-inch wafer plant costs about US$1 billion.
TSMC, United Microelectronics Corp (
The government has already given the greenlight for 122 high-tech items, including notebook computers, mobile phones and DVD players.
Direct investment projects in China have been allowed since Jan. 1. For the last 50 years, all cross-strait investments had to go through third countries.
Taiwan businesses have invested an estimated US$70 billion in China since 1987, when the government allowed Taiwanese to visit China.
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