The government is poised to lift the ban on Taiwanese semiconductor testers and packagers setting up plants in China in a move to help local companies safeguard their leading market position, a government official said yesterday.
"We intend to relax the restriction," said Chang Ming-pin (張銘斌), a spokesman for the Investment Commission, a government agency which monitors the nation's China-bound investments.
The government is close to completing an evaluation about the impact of allowing local chip testing and packaging houses to set up Chinese operations, Chang said.
While no timetable for the relaxation has been set yet, the move would be the latest by the government to ease its grip on Taiwan's semiconductor industry after it approved a plan by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) to relocate its less advanced facilities to Shanghai last month.
Gordon Chen (
"It could be the right time for the government to scrap the ban by the year end," Chen said.
Despite the likely uproar -- especially from Taiwan Solidarity Union (TSU) lawmakers -- Chen argued that it would make no sense to keep the restriction after TSMC got permission to set up a factory in Shanghai's Sungjiang Industrial Park to start manufacturing 8-inch wafers by the end of the year.
Advanced Semiconductor Engineering Inc (日月光半導體), the world's largest chip testing and packaging service provider, and smaller rival Siliconware Precision Industries Co (矽品), provide services for companies placing orders with TSMC and United Microelectronics Corp (聯電).
"To maintain Taiwanese companies' competitiveness and get a share from the fast-growing Chinese market, it is a must for us to make the move," said Luo Huai-jia (
Earlier this month, Amkor Technology Inc announced it was buying IBM's two testing operations in Singapore and Shanghai to expand its capacity.
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