A trade official suggested yesterday that Taiwan investors interested in making investments across the Taiwan Strait should study the market situation more carefully and avoid putting money in sectors or regions with excessive investments.
Huang Chih-peng (黃志鵬), secretary-general of the China External Trade Development Council (CETRA, 貿協) and former director of the Ministry of Economic Affair's Industrial Development and Investment Center, said that Taiwan investors should take into consideration the political environment, basic infrastructure, distribution of public resources, sales channels, the balance of supply and demand, as well as personnel costs and factory sites before investing.
Statistics compiled by Chinese authorities show that Taiwan investors have set up some 46,000 companies on the mainland, although the official figure released by Taiwan authorities is around 23,000.
As for the investment amount, official figures released by Taiwan authorities show that between 1991 and 2000, Taiwan investors poured US$17.1 billion in China's markets. China's official figure for the amount is around US$50 billion, while the private sector in Taiwan estimates the amount at between US$80 billion and US$100 billion.
Being the world's seventh largest economy and the eighth largest trading country, China has become a magnet for foreign capital. Taiwan's business and industrial sectors have also stepped up their pace to win themselves footholds in the huge market.
Huang said that China offers certain investment advantages, but added that investors should recognize that many foreign investors have failed in China in the years past due to the lack of transparency and the unexpected costs that ambiguous regulations have entailed.
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