The government’s plan to open up the local stock and futures markets to Chinese investors is unlikely to attract any capital inflows from China in the foreseeable future, although it marks an important step in Taiwan’s goal to build the country into an Asia-Pacific fund-raising hub, analysts said yesterday.
“Why would they buy Taiwanese shares when their own equities are priced so low with greater potential for future gains on the back of China’s growth?” said a stock broker, who requested anonymity.
He said that some of the managers of Chinese institutional funds who hail from Taiwan have long been unimpressed by the performance of local equities and are unlikely to invest in Taiwanese stocks.
“The plan is only of symbolic importance,” he said.
Only if Morgan Stanley Capital International Inc (MSCI) increases its weighting on the local market would the TAIEX attract more foreign capital inflow, including from China, the broker said, urging the government to accelerate its deregulatory policies to liberalize the nation’s capital markets.
Liang Kuo-yuan (梁國源), president of Polaris Research Institute (寶華綜合經濟研究院), said that local equity markets would have to be attractive enough to outperform their Asian peers and attract Chinese investment.
“In the foreseeable future, local shares, including high-tech equities, will continue their downtrend, which won’t be appealing to overseas investors, including the Chinese,” Liang said by telephone yesterday.
Whether Chinese capital will actually be interested in Taiwanese shares also depends on how well China’s economy weathers the worldwide economic downturn, he said.
If China’s economy manages to cushion the global downfall, Chinese investors may take courage and seek investments overseas, he said.
Despite his misgivings, Liang threw his support behind the government’s opening, which he said should help normalize the nation’s capital ties with China.
By lifting the ban on capital inflows from China, the move is at least an attempt to correct the nation’s massive one-way China-bound capital flight, he said.
On Thursday, the Financial Supervisory Commission announced plans to allow China’s Qualified Domestic Institutional Investors (QDII) to invest in Taiwanese stocks, hoping to attract a maximum of NT$7.2 billion (US$214.56 billion) in capital.
The opening shows the government’s resolve in adopting a non-discriminatory approach toward capital inflows, which will pave the way for the nation to become a regional financial hub, the commission said.
William Lin (林蒼祥), a finance professor at Tamkang University, supported the move.
“It is a must-do policy and we should extend our welcome [to Chinese capital],” Lin said, adding that “if the money helps revitalize the nation’s capital markets, why not?”
He agreed with the commission’s decision to impose initial restrictions on Chinese capital inflows as supporting measures to “prevent the inflow of Chinese hot money from disturbing the local markets’ stability.”
Under the government’s plans, Chinese investors will not be allowed to acquire more than a 10 percent stake in a listed Taiwanese firm without obtaining permission from government agencies, the commission said on Thursday.
Chinese investors are also not allowed to gain management control of Taiwanese companies or become board members. Moreover, they cannot invest in over-the-counter derivatives or equities on the Emerging Stock Market (興櫃市場), or trade stocks on credit, the commission said.
Lin said the government’s opening policy should be made in two steps, which would give both governments time to reinforce their regulatory cooperation before a complete opening is facilitated.
Merida Industry Co (美利達) has seen signs of recovery in the US and European markets this year, as customers are gradually depleting their inventories, the bicycle maker told shareholders yesterday. Given robust growth in new orders at its Taiwanese factory, coupled with its subsidiaries’ improving performance, Merida said it remains confident about the bicycle market’s prospects and expects steady growth in its core business this year. CAUTION ON CHINA However, the company must handle the Chinese market with great caution, as sales of road bikes there have declined significantly, affecting its revenue and profitability, Merida said in a statement, adding that it would
RISING: Strong exports, and life insurance companies’ efforts to manage currency risks indicates the NT dollar would eventually pass the 29 level, an expert said The New Taiwan dollar yesterday rallied to its strongest in three years amid inflows to the nation’s stock market and broad-based weakness in the US dollar. Exporter sales of the US currency and a repatriation of funds from local asset managers also played a role, said two traders, who asked not to be identified as they were not authorized to speak publicly. State-owned banks were seen buying the greenback yesterday, but only at a moderate scale, the traders said. The local currency gained 0.77 percent, outperforming almost all of its Asian peers, to close at NT$29.165 per US dollar in Taipei trading yesterday. The
RECORD LOW: Global firms’ increased inventories, tariff disputes not yet impacting Taiwan and new graduates not yet entering the market contributed to the decrease Taiwan’s unemployment rate last month dropped to 3.3 percent, the lowest for the month in 25 years, as strong exports and resilient domestic demand boosted hiring across various sectors, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday. After seasonal adjustments, the jobless rate eased to 3.34 percent, the best performance in 24 years, suggesting a stable labor market, although a mild increase is expected with the graduation season from this month through August, the statistics agency said. “Potential shocks from tariff disputes between the US and China have yet to affect Taiwan’s job market,” Census Department Deputy Director Tan Wen-ling
UNCERTAINTIES: The world’s biggest chip packager and tester is closely monitoring the US’ tariff policy before making any capacity adjustments, a company official said ASE Technology Holding Inc (日月光投控), the world’s biggest chip packager and tester, yesterday said it is cautiously evaluating new advanced packaging capacity expansion in the US in response to customers’ requests amid uncertainties about the US’ tariff policy. Compared with its semiconductor peers, ASE has been relatively prudent about building new capacity in the US. However, the company is adjusting its global manufacturing footprint expansion after US President Donald Trump announced “reciprocal” tariffs in April, and new import duties targeting semiconductors and other items that are vital to national security. ASE subsidiary Siliconware Precision Industries Co (SPIL, 矽品精密) is participating in Nvidia
RSS