Record-high repatriation of China investment: FSC

Taiwanese companies have continued to wire money to China and other overseas markets this year, while repatriating a record-high proportion of investment income from China for the first nine months of the year, according to a report issued by the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) yesterday.

A total of 1,132 listed companies had invested in China as of the end of last quarter, accounting for 77.32 percent of all 1,464 firms that trade their shares on either the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE) or the GRETAI Securities Market (GTSM), the report’s data showed.

The TWSE is the primary stock market in Taiwan, while the GTSM is the nation’s over-the-counter market.

Compared with the end of last year, China-bound funds have increased by a total of NT$161.1 billion (US$5.15 billion) to NT$1.875 trillion as of the end of September, driven by investment in the computer and peripheral equipment manufacturing sector, as well as the electronics components industry, the report said.

Taiwanese firms listed on local bourses recorded a combined NT$121.7 billion in investment income during the July-to-September period, rising NT$35 billion, or 40.37 percent, from the same period last year, on improvements in defect-free rates and margins, the commission said in the report.

These firms had repatriated NT$198.1 billion at the end of September, making up 10.56 percent of their original investments, which marks the highest proportion in history for the first nine months, the commission said.

Securities and Futures Bureau Deputy Director-General Chang Li-chen (張麗真) said that the strong profitability may be the major factor leading Taiwanese companies to repatriate more money.

Overseas investments, not including investments in China, totaled NT$493.7 billion as of the end of September, led by investment in semiconductor and electronics businesses, the commission’s statistics showed.

Overseas investments generated NT$246.9 billion in investment profit for the third quarter, an increase of NT$7.3 billion from a year ago, the commission added.