Lenovo Group (聯想集團), Haier Co (海爾集團) and Changhong Electric Co (四川長虹) are among more than 40 Chinese firms that could purchase approximately US$2 billion in products from Taiwan on a procurement visit that began yesterday, the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) said.
By combining Taiwan’s technology and China’s market, the two sides could create an IT industry able to dominate the global market, TAITRA chairman Wang Chih-kang (王志剛) told a cross-strait economic and trade seminar in Taipei yesterday.
Twenty-three of the companies in the delegation have won bids for a Chinese government program to subsidize home appliance purchases in rural areas, Wang said.
The delegation, which arrived in Taipei on Sunday, is composed of senior executives from five major Chinese export-import trade associations, six leading industry associations and top management from more than 40 flagship companies, including home appliance manufacturer Haier and computer giant Lenovo.
To help domestic companies take advantage of the Chinese subsidy program, TAITRA welcomed the Association of Economy and Trade Across Taiwan Straits, an agency under the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, to send procurement delegations to Taiwan.
Delegation leader Li Shuilin (李水林) said the association would organize a procurement delegation to Taiwan each month for the next three months.
He signaled that Chinese companies were eager to make direct procurements from Taiwanese suppliers during the visit.
“It is difficult to predict the total volume of the procurements, which will include information technology products, precision machinery, petroleum products and handicrafts. Let’s just say that there will be no limit,” he said.
“Through this procurement activity, we hope to establish a channel to promote long-term trade relations between companies across the Strait and bring real and long-term benefits to Taiwanese companies,” Li said.
TAITRA will arrange one-on-one procurement meetings in Taipei and Kaohsiung, with 230 domestic companies already registered.
Some 161 companies including Formosa Plastics Group (台塑集團), Chi Mei Optoelectronics Corp (奇美電子) and Tatung Co (大同公司), participated in a procurement meeting in Taipei yesterday.
Items expected to be on Chinese companies’ wish lists include liquid-crystal display (LCD) panels, chips and modules, cellphones, computer components and accessories, plastic and chemical products, textile products and handicrafts, TAITRA said.
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