The nation’s listed companies reported combined Chinese investment gains of NT$154.3 billion (US$5.23 billion) in the first half of the year, up 37 percent year-on-year, and the highest for the period, Financial Supervisory Commission data released on Tuesday showed, as some companies recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic and benefited from rising demand for devices used for remote working.
Chinese investment gains plunged 36 percent annually to NT$23.3 billion in the first quarter due to the COVID-19 outbreak, but increased 72 percent to NT$131 billion in the second quarter, the data showed.
“Demand for remote-working devices and consumer electronics rose, as people needed to work from home while under lockdown, which benefited our electronic providers,” Securities and Futures Bureau Deputy Director-General Tsai Li-ling (蔡麗玲) said.
Listed companies trimmed their investments in China by NT$4 billion in the second quarter, despite investment gains, data showed.
As of the end of June, listed firms’ accumulated investment in China totaled NT$2.524 trillion, up NT$13.4 billion from the end of last year, while the number of listed firms with investments in China dropped to 1,191, seven fewer than the end of last year, data showed.
Tsai said that the number of listed companies investing in China tends to fluctuate, so it was uncertain whether the pandemic could be blamed for firms leaving the market.
“While some firms left the market, other companies continued expanding production there or set up new subsidiaries,” Tsai said. “Computer firms and electronic component providers particularly increased their investment.”
Listed companies repatriated NT$18.1 billion of investment gains to Taiwan during the first half of this year, accounting for 20.15 percent of their total investment in China, data showed.
That raised accumulated repatriated funds to NT$508.7 billion, data showed.
Total overseas investment gains by listed firms increased 5 percent annually to NT$209.3 billion in the first half, thanks to a 41 percent increase in gains in the second quarter of NT$171.6 billion boosted by an increase in orders for devices used for remote working, Tsai said.
CAUTIOUS RECOVERY: While the manufacturing sector returned to growth amid the US-China trade truce, firms remain wary as uncertainty clouds the outlook, the CIER said The local manufacturing sector returned to expansion last month, as the official purchasing managers’ index (PMI) rose 2.1 points to 51.0, driven by a temporary easing in US-China trade tensions, the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER, 中華經濟研究院) said yesterday. The PMI gauges the health of the manufacturing industry, with readings above 50 indicating expansion and those below 50 signaling contraction. “Firms are not as pessimistic as they were in April, but they remain far from optimistic,” CIER president Lien Hsien-ming (連賢明) said at a news conference. The full impact of US tariff decisions is unlikely to become clear until later this month
GROWING CONCERN: Some senior Trump administration officials opposed the UAE expansion over fears that another TSMC project could jeopardize its US investment Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) is evaluating building an advanced production facility in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and has discussed the possibility with officials in US President Donald Trump’s administration, people familiar with the matter said, in a potentially major bet on the Middle East that would only come to fruition with Washington’s approval. The company has had multiple meetings in the past few months with US Special Envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff and officials from MGX, an influential investment vehicle overseen by the UAE president’s brother, the people said. The conversations are a continuation of talks that
CHIP DUTIES: TSMC said it voiced its concerns to Washington about tariffs, telling the US commerce department that it wants ‘fair treatment’ to protect its competitiveness Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday reiterated robust business prospects for this year as strong artificial intelligence (AI) chip demand from Nvidia Corp and other customers would absorb the impacts of US tariffs. “The impact of tariffs would be indirect, as the custom tax is the importers’ responsibility, not the exporters,” TSMC chairman and chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) said at the chipmaker’s annual shareholders’ meeting in Hsinchu City. TSMC’s business could be affected if people become reluctant to buy electronics due to inflated prices, Wei said. In addition, the chipmaker has voiced its concern to the US Department of Commerce
STILL LOADED: Last year’s richest person, Quanta Computer Inc chairman Barry Lam, dropped to second place despite an 8 percent increase in his wealth to US$12.6 billion Staff writer, with CNA Daniel Tsai (蔡明忠) and Richard Tsai (蔡明興), the brothers who run Fubon Group (富邦集團), topped the Forbes list of Taiwan’s 50 richest people this year, released on Wednesday in New York. The magazine said that a stronger New Taiwan dollar pushed the combined wealth of Taiwan’s 50 richest people up 13 percent, from US$174 billion to US$197 billion, with 36 of the people on the list seeing their wealth increase. That came as Taiwan’s economy grew 4.6 percent last year, its fastest pace in three years, driven by the strong performance of the semiconductor industry, the magazine said. The Tsai
RSS