Xiaoshan, Qingdao, Zhangzhou, Ningbo and Zhongshan top a 62-city list this year as the most attractive destinations in China for Taiwanese investments, according to a survey released yesterday.
"Xiaoshan stands out for its internationalized level of infrastructure, appropriate environment standards and customs efficiency," said Chen Lee-in (陳麗瑛), a research fellow at the Chung-hua Institution for Economic Research, at a press conference yesterday to present the survey by the Taiwan Electrical & Electronics Manufacturers Association (TEEMA, 電電公會).
The association questioned some 2,000 Taiwanese business-people for the survey.
According to the survey, the riskiest investment locations in China are Foushan in Quanzhou Province, Dongguan in Guangdong Province, Wenzhou in Zhejiang Province and and Taizhou in Jiangsu Province.
Foushan's living standards cost it points in the wake of the SARS epidemic since most respondents showed were unhappy with the city's food hygiene and sewage system, Chen said.
Suzhou was rated the best place to invest for two consecutive years, 2001 and last year, but it placed seventh this year.
Chen, however, said that Suzhou remains a very competitive place to invest even though other cities appeared to have surpassed it.
It appears that manufactures are not the only ones coveting the greater China market, Chen said.
"China-base Taiwanese busi-nesses have gradually shifted their focus from the China's manufacturing sector to its service sector," Chen said, adding several Taiwan-ese businesses in China have reported annual sales of more than US$100 million.
Most Taiwanese businesspeople polled for the survey also expressed satisfaction with China's improving dispute-resolution capabilities.
"The risk of having disputes scares away businesses," said Yeh Yee-wei (
Vice Legislative Speaker Chiang Ping-kun (
Chiang also lauded President Chen Shui-bian's (陳水扁) recent announcement to activate cross-strait indirect transport links by allowing domestic airlines to operate charter cargo flights to Shang-hai for a year, beginning later this month.
"Such links may help alleviate China fever since many China-bound investors don't necessarily have to base themselves there anymore," Chiang said.
TEEMA chairman Rock Hsu (
But he also expressed concern that Shanghai may be overwhelmed with too much cargo as businesses rush to take advantage of the indirect links and that may end up causing shipment delays.
Hsu urged the government to allow charter cargo flights to other Chinese cities as well. He also said he hope the customs offices in Shanghai are capable of handling the increase in traffic.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last