US investment in Taiwanese equities totaled US$114 billion at the end of last year, according to a report released on Friday by the US Department of Treasury.
According to the annual report on US holdings of foreign securities, US investors used all of the funds they moved into Taiwan for securities investment to buy equities instead of short-term and long term debts.
Long-term debt refers to instruments with a maturity of more than one year and short term debt refers to financial products with a maturity of one year or less, while equities are more liquid than debt and easier for investors to sell for cash.
According to the report, US investment in equities issued in Taiwan at the end of last year rose about US$4.2 billion from a year earlier.
Taiwan ranked as the 21st-most favorable destination for US securities investors, the report showed.
The report said US investors had poured more than US$9.6 trillion into foreign securities as of the end of last year, up from US$8.78 trillion in 2013, and about US$6.8 trillion was used for equity investment, US$2.5 trillion for long-term debt investment and US$400 billion in short-term debt.
The UK was the first choice for US investment in foreign securities, as investors poured about US$1.3 trillion and used US$918 billion out of this total for equity investment as of the end of last year.
The Cayman Islands came in second, with US$1.14 trillion worth of securities bought, including US$855 billion in equity investment, ahead of Canada with US$847 billion, Japan with US$689 billion and France with US$484 billion.
Hong Kong ranked the 16th-most favorable destination for US investors, who poured US$151 billion into the territory’s securities market and used US$142 billion of the total for equity investment, the report said.
US investors moved US$132 billion into China’s securities and used US$128 billion for equity investment, landing China in 18th place on the annual US Treasury list, the report said.
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