Taiwan's exports rose in August at the fastest pace in almost two years as customers in China bought more mobile phones and other goods, countering a slowdown in US demand.
Exports gained 15.5 percent from a year earlier to US$10.91 billion, following a 14.9 percent increase in July, a government report showed. That was the fastest growth since October 2000.
Taiwan-based companies such as Wintek Corp (勝華科技), a maker of mobile-phone displays, are expanding production in China to fill growing demand from that country, which overtook the US last year as the world's biggest mobile-phone market.
That's helping sales grow even as US demand flags.
"China's growth is still faster relative to the rest of the world, and it's also promoting its domestic mobile-phone makers," said James Chen, finance manager at Wintek, whose customers include Motorola Inc and TCL Communication Equipment Co, China's biggest domestic mobile-phone maker.
Wintek, which has factories in Suzhou, China, and Taiwan, posted record consolidated sales last month, Chen said.
Taiwan manufacturers are taking advantage of looser investment rules to move production lines to China, where wages are an average 16 times lower than in Taiwan.
That's helping them cut costs and giving them closer access to a market where the economy grew 8 percent in the second quarter from a year earlier, the fastest in Asia.
US manufacturing stalled in August, according to the Institute for Supply Management, the latest sign growth in one of Taiwan's largest export markets is slowing.
Imports rose 18.8 percent from a year earlier to US$9.14 billion, the report showed. That widened the trade surplus to US$1.77 billion from US$1.76 billion a year earlier.
Exports to China more than doubled last month from a year earlier to US$920.8 million, yesterday's report showed.
Shipments to Hong Kong rose 20 percent to US$2.64 billion.
Exports to the US rose 0.7 percent to US$2.29 billion. Sales to Japan rose 9.1 percent, and shipments to Europe rose 5 percent.
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