The government is considering allowing Chinese TV makers buy up to a 20 percent share in local LCD panel makers in a move to help local companies compete with their South Korean rivals in China, a Ministry of Economic Affairs official said yesterday.
The move would be the latest relaxation of cross-strait trade after the government last year eased restrictions on local panel makers wishing to build next-generation plants in China.
South Korean LCD panel makers have obtained Beijing’s approval to build next-generation plants in China to produce TV panels. Taipei has approved a proposal from AU Optronics Corp (友達光電), the nation’s No. 2 LCD panel maker, to build a US$3 billion TV panel factory in China.
There is now the possibility of the government allowing Chinese TV makers to own a stake in local flat-panel makers, as the investment would deepen the cooperation between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait and help local flat-panel makers benefit from the fast-growing TV market in China, an official at the ministry’s Industrial Development Bureau, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said in a telephone interview yesterday.
However, there would be limits. Chinese investment would be capped at a 20 percent stake in local panel manufacturers and Chinese TV manufacturers would not be allowed to be the largest single investors in the companies, the official said.
However, nothing concrete has been concluded yet, the official said.
A final decision will only be made after more discussion within government agencies concerned with cross-strait issues, including the ministry’s Investment Commission, before sending the proposal to the Cabinet for final approval.
Taiwanese flat-panel makers welcomed the government’s intention to liberalize cross-strait investments.
AU Optronics said by telephone that the company was positive about the “opening-up.”
The nation’s two largest flat panel makers, AU Optronics and Chimei Innolux Corp (奇美電子), together supply 50 percent of the LCD panels used by Chinese TV brands, AU Optronics said.
Taiwanese flat-panel makers also hope the government will permit local companies to form joint ventures with their Chinese peers, they said.
The government would relax restrictions incrementally, given the potential impact on the nation’s economy, the government official said.
Separately, AU Optronics was lowered to “neutral” from “buy” by UBS AG, which said the “strong” NT dollar could keep the company in the red until the fourth quarter, Bloomberg reported yesterday.
The brokerage cut its share-price estimate to NT$29.50 from NT$39, according to the report by Sean Kim, an analyst at UBS.
Stephen Garrett, a 27-year-old graduate student, always thought he would study in China, but first the country’s restrictive COVID-19 policies made it nearly impossible and now he has other concerns. The cost is one deterrent, but Garrett is more worried about restrictions on academic freedom and the personal risk of being stranded in China. He is not alone. Only about 700 American students are studying at Chinese universities, down from a peak of nearly 25,000 a decade ago, while there are nearly 300,000 Chinese students at US schools. Some young Americans are discouraged from investing their time in China by what they see
MAJOR DROP: CEO Tim Cook, who is visiting Hanoi, pledged the firm was committed to Vietnam after its smartphone shipments declined 9.6% annually in the first quarter Apple Inc yesterday said it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit. The iPhone maker announced the news in a statement on its Web site, but gave no details of how much it would spend or where the money would go. Cook is expected to meet programmers, content creators and students during his visit, online newspaper VnExpress reported. The visit comes as US President Joe Biden’s administration seeks to ramp up Vietnam’s role in the global tech supply chain to reduce the US’ dependence on China. Images on
New apartments in Taiwan’s major cities are getting smaller, while old apartments are increasingly occupied by older people, many of whom live alone, government data showed. The phenomenon has to do with sharpening unaffordable property prices and an aging population, property brokers said. Apartments with one bedroom that are two years old or older have gained a noticeable presence in the nation’s six special municipalities as well as Hsinchu county and city in the past five years, Evertrust Rehouse Co (永慶房產集團) found, citing data from the government’s real-price transaction platform. In Taipei, apartments with one bedroom accounted for 19 percent of deals last
US CONSCULTANT: The US Department of Commerce’s Ursula Burns is a rarely seen US government consultant to be put forward to sit on the board, nominated as an independent director Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday nominated 10 candidates for its new board of directors, including Ursula Burns from the US Department of Commerce. It is rare that TSMC has nominated a US government consultant to sit on its board. Burns was nominated as one of seven independent directors. She is vice chair of the department’s Advisory Council on Supply Chain Competitiveness. Burns is to stand for election at TSMC’s annual shareholders’ meeting on June 4 along with the rest of the candidates. TSMC chairman Mark Liu (劉德音) was not on the list after in December last