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Taiwan-China trade up

Trade between Taiwan and China in the 11 months to November last year rose 15.3 percent from a year earlier to US$92.68 billion on increasing cross-strait economic exchanges, the Taiwanese government said yesterday.

The figure accounted for 22 percent of Taiwan's total external trade during the period, up 1.4 percentage points from a year earlier, the Board of Foreign Trade said in a statement.

Taiwan registered a trade surplus with China of US$41.89 billion, up 19.4 percent from a year earlier.

Exports to China rose 16.5 percent year-on-year to US$67.29 billion. Taiwanese imports from China were up 12.1 percent at US$25.39 billion.

Shipments to China accounted for 30.1 percent of Taiwan's total exports during the 11-month period, up 1.9 percentage points from a year earlier.

Imports from China accounted for 12.8 percent of Taiwan's total imports, up 0.6 percentage points from a year earlier.

AmCham urges opening

The American Chamber of Commerce in Taipei (AmCham) yesterday urged the nation's next president to immediately relax restrictions on semiconductor companies' China-bound investments.

In an annual semiconductor report, AmCham recommended the next president allow companies that make chips on yet-to-mature 18-inch wafers to branch out into China.

The report further urged the incumbent Democratic Progressive Party government to allow chip companies to move their 12-inch wafer fabs to China while encouraging all old 8-inch foundries to move there.

The trade office argues that semiconductor manufacturers can maintain their economic feasibility by moving old foundries to China while keeping high-end technologies in Taiwan.

Taiwanese flock to Japan

Behind only South Korea, Taiwan contributed the second most tourists to Japan of all Asian countries last year, a report by the Japan National Tourist Organization said yesterday.

Japan-bound tourists exceeded the 8 million level last year for the first time, with expenditures there totaling ?1.36 trillion (US$12.8 billion) -- up 20.2 percent from a year earlier.

The organization's report said that 8.35 million tourists visited Japan last year, up 13.8 percent from a year earlier. Seventy percent of these tourists were from Asian countries, the report said.

South Korea contributed the most tourists, 2.6 million, up 22.8 percent from a year earlier, followed by Taiwan's 1.4 million, China's 0.94 million and the US' 0.82 million.

Japanese tourists to other countries declined by 1.3 percent to set a four-year low of 17.3 million last year, the report said.

Visitors from Taiwan and China increased by 5.8 percent and 16.2 percent respectively, the report showed.

EVA announces new route

EVA Airways (長榮航空) said yesterday it will launch a Taipei-Osaka-Los Angeles route with three flights a week from March 30.

EVA Air said that it would be the only carrier to offer non-stop service between Osaka and Los Angeles.

"We are seeing potential in the business," a spokesman said.

The number of EVA's Taipei-Osaka flights will increase from seven to 10, it said.

EVA Air provides 63 flights a week to six destinations in Japan, including Tokyo, Nagoya, Fukuoka, Sapporo, Sendai and Osaka.

NT dollar strengthens

The NT dollar strengthened by NT$0.031 to trade at NT$32.314 yesterday against the greenback on turnover of US$1.508 billion.
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