Taiwan-based companies is likely to face increased competition next year as a result of of the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) signed between (mainland) China, Hong Kong and Macau, an analyst said yesterday.
According to Wu Fu-cheng (
Beijing and Hong Kong are scheduled to complete negotiations on the CEPA by the end of next month. The deal will allow the entry of an additional 710 Hong Kong products to the mainland market without tariff duties, Wu said.
Some 1,087 items will then enjoy preferential treatment in China, Wu said.
CEPA talks are focusing on a further market opening for Hong Kong-based shipping and surface transportation services, as well as liberalization in the financial and insurance sectors, allowing Hong Kong companies to do business in the vast mainland market, Wu said.
The CEPA will help push Hong Kong's gross domestic product (GDP) up by 2.64 percent, he said.
The CEPA may lower Taiwan's GDP by 0.07 percent, with the textile industry suffering a 1.24 percent drop in its production value, Wu said.
Under the CEPA framework, Hong Kong and Macau may join forces with the mainland in pressing ahead on free trade agreements (FTAs), Wu said.
China is planning to establish an FTA zone composed of Russia, Japan, South Korea and countries in Southeast Asia by 2010, while at the same time keeping Taiwan on the sidelines of such agreements, Wu said.
As a result, Taiwanese business groups will need to formulate strategies to remain competitive in the region, he said.
The number of Taiwanese working in the US rose to a record high of 137,000 last year, driven largely by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC, 台積電) rapid overseas expansion, according to government data released yesterday. A total of 666,000 Taiwanese nationals were employed abroad last year, an increase of 45,000 from 2023 and the highest level since the COVID-19 pandemic, data from the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) showed. Overseas employment had steadily increased between 2009 and 2019, peaking at 739,000, before plunging to 319,000 in 2021 amid US-China trade tensions, global supply chain shifts, reshoring by Taiwanese companies and
Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) received about NT$147 billion (US$4.71 billion) in subsidies from the US, Japanese, German and Chinese governments over the past two years for its global expansion. Financial data compiled by the world’s largest contract chipmaker showed the company secured NT$4.77 billion in subsidies from the governments in the third quarter, bringing the total for the first three quarters of the year to about NT$71.9 billion. Along with the NT$75.16 billion in financial aid TSMC received last year, the chipmaker obtained NT$147 billion in subsidies in almost two years, the data showed. The subsidies received by its subsidiaries —
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