The proportion of Taiwan’s exports directed to China, including Hong Kong, declined by more than 12 percentage points last year compared with its peak in 2020, the Ministry of Finance said on Thursday last week.
The decrease reflects the ongoing restructuring of global supply chains, driven by escalating trade tensions between Beijing and Washington.
Data compiled by the ministry showed China and Hong Kong accounted for 31.7 percent of Taiwan’s total outbound sales last year, a drop of 12.2 percentage points from a high of 43.9 percent in 2020.
Photo: CNA
In addition to increasing trade conflicts between China and the US, the ministry said the decline reflected a weakening Chinese economy caused by a fragile property home market and falling domestic demand.
The ministry said a fall in exports to China also came as the Chinese government intensified efforts to push for the “Made in China 2025” initiative to replace imported goods with those made domestically.
The reduction in exports last year was largely made up of petrochemical, base metal and machine tool suppliers due to a supply glut in the Chinese market, the ministry said.
Taiwan’s exports of traditional electronic components to China, such as printed-circuit boards and diodes, also declined last year compared with 2020, it said.
In contrast, sales of high-end integrated circuits and graphics processing unit (GPU) cards, which are used in artificial intelligence applications, increased over the same period.
As exports to China fall, Taiwan has forged closer ties with the US and ASEAN to diversify their markets and reduce dependence on China, the ministry said.
Taiwan’s exports to the US surged 120 percent last year compared with 2020, reaching US$111.4 billion, the ministry said.
The growth was primarily driven by computer electronics — including servers and GPU cards — which rose 640 percent, and semiconductors, which increased 360 percent in that period.
Exports to the US comprised 23.4 percent of Taiwan’s total last year, up from 14.6 percent in 2020, according to the ministry.
Exports to ASEAN made up 18.5 percent, up 3.1 percentage points from 15.4 percent in 2020, largely due to an increase in sales of computers and related products, as well as semiconductors, the ministry said.
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