Exposure to China among Taiwanese financial institutions — including banks, insurance companies, securities and futures brokerages, and investment trusts — reached a record-low NT$876.95 billion (US$29.71 billion) at the end of April, Financial Supervisory Commission data showed on Sunday.
Their exposure was down NT$165.75 billion, or 15.89 percent, from a year earlier amid concerns over a slowing Chinese economy, rising local government debts and a multiyear real-estate crisis, as well as persisting geopolitical risks, the commission said.
In terms of declines in total exposure, the banking sector experienced the largest drop, as Taiwanese banks cut their combined exposure — including lending, investments, and interbank loans and deposits — by NT$145.27 billion, or 15.16 percent, to NT$813.2 billion from a year earlier, the data showed.
Photo: Reuters
Taiwanese banks scaled back lending to the Chinese market by a combined NT$99.87 billion from a year earlier and decreased investments by NT$20.83 billion and interbank loans by NT$24.57 billion over the same period, it showed.
The sector’s exposure to China has declined for seven consecutive years since the US-China trade dispute started in 2018.
As of the end of April, local banks’ exposure accounted for 17.2 percent of the sector’s net worth, the lowest level since the data became available in the third quarter of 2013, the commission said.
Taiwanese insurance companies’ investments in marketable securities in China fell NT$20.9 billion, or 29 percent, from a year earlier to NT$52.4 billion at the end of April, accounting for only 0.16 percent of the sector’s total disposable funds, it said.
The sector’s investments in Chinese securities were all made by life insurers, while property and casualty insurers have held no securities in China since January 2023, it said.
Meanwhile, the combined exposure to China of Taiwanese securities and futures brokerages, as well as securities investment trust and consulting firms rose NT$457 million, or 4.2 percent annually, to NT$11.35 billion at the end of April, accounting for 1.39 percent of the sector’s net worth, the data showed.
The sector’s expanded exposure to China reflected that securities firms’ proprietary finance units slightly increased investments in short-term debt holdings, the commission said.
POWERING UP: PSUs for AI servers made up about 50% of Delta’s total server PSU revenue during the first three quarters of last year, the company said Power supply and electronic components maker Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) reported record-high revenue of NT$161.61 billion (US$5.11 billion) for last quarter and said it remains positive about this quarter. Last quarter’s figure was up 7.6 percent from the previous quarter and 41.51 percent higher than a year earlier, and largely in line with Yuanta Securities Investment Consulting Co’s (元大投顧) forecast of NT$160 billion. Delta’s annual revenue last year rose 31.76 percent year-on-year to NT$554.89 billion, also a record high for the company. Its strong performance reflected continued demand for high-performance power solutions and advanced liquid-cooling products used in artificial intelligence (AI) data centers,
SIZE MATTERS: TSMC started phasing out 8-inch wafer production last year, while Samsung is more aggressively retiring 8-inch capacity, TrendForce said Chipmakers are expected to raise prices of 8-inch wafers by up to 20 percent this year on concern over supply constraints as major contract chipmakers Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and Samsung Electronics Co gradually retire less advanced wafer capacity, TrendForce Corp (集邦科技) said yesterday. It is the first significant across-the-board price hike since a global semiconductor correction in 2023, the Taipei-based market researcher said in a report. Global 8-inch wafer capacity slid 0.3 percent year-on-year last year, although 8-inch wafer prices still hovered at relatively stable levels throughout the year, TrendForce said. The downward trend is expected to continue this year,
Vincent Wei led fellow Singaporean farmers around an empty Malaysian plot, laying out plans for a greenhouse and rows of leafy vegetables. What he pitched was not just space for crops, but a lifeline for growers struggling to make ends meet in a city-state with high prices and little vacant land. The future agriculture hub is part of a joint special economic zone launched last year by the two neighbors, expected to cost US$123 million and produce 10,000 tonnes of fresh produce annually. It is attracting Singaporean farmers with promises of cheaper land, labor and energy just over the border.
US actor Matthew McConaughey has filed recordings of his image and voice with US patent authorities to protect them from unauthorized usage by artificial intelligence (AI) platforms, a representative said earlier this week. Several video clips and audio recordings were registered by the commercial arm of the Just Keep Livin’ Foundation, a non-profit created by the Oscar-winning actor and his wife, Camila, according to the US Patent and Trademark Office database. Many artists are increasingly concerned about the uncontrolled use of their image via generative AI since the rollout of ChatGPT and other AI-powered tools. Several US states have adopted
RSS