The relaxed regulations governing cross-strait trade exchanges adopted by the government since it took office in May have not deepened the country’s economic reliance on China, Mainland Affairs Council Vice Chairman Fu Don-cheng (傅棟成) said yesterday.
“The relaxation of restrictions on cross-strait trade policies hasn’t had any negative influence on the country’s economic development,” Fu said.
Fu’s remarks came in response to criticism from Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers who on Tuesday claimed that the government’s relaxed regulations aimed at enhancing cross-strait economic ties would result in an NT$8 trillion (US$240.8 billion) outflow of capital from Taiwan to China.
The eased regulations included raising the ceiling on China-bound investment, increasing the caps on investment by Taiwanese funds in Chinese shares as well as Hong Kong/Macau H and red chip shares.
Despite the relaxations, the amount the government approved for investment in China was 34.2 percent less from July to September than from the same period last year, while the amount approved from May to September decreased 3.3 percent compared to the same period last year.
Under the DPP government the amount of approved investment in China from January to May increased 24.3 percent compared to the same period the previous year, Fu said, adding that “Taiwanese investors’ China fever has significantly cooled since May.”
Fu said that the main objectives of the relaxation policies were to create a highly liberalized and internationalized investment environment to attract more global capital and to facilitate the return of Taiwanese capital from China.
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