China’s latest package of 12 measures to advance cross-strait “integration” would have little effect in attracting Taiwanese investment, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said on Tuesday.
The MAC was responding to a report by China’s Xinhua news agency on Tuesday that the Fujian Provincial Government had announced 12 new measures to further “advance” Fujian as a “cross-strait integrated development demonstration zone.”
The measures include offering preferential insurance premiums to Taiwan-funded aquaculture firms, as well as efforts to improve tax services for Taiwanese individuals and businesses, including the establishment of a dedicated tax consultation hotline.
Photo: Tien Yu-hua, Taipei Times
The MAC in a statement on Tuesday evening predicted that the measures would fail based on similar efforts that it said have had “far from ideal” results.
It said Fujian Province has rolled out 74 measures targeting investment by Taiwanese businesses and individuals since Beijing issued a policy paper in September 2023 designating it as a demonstration zone, yet investment there by Taiwanese businesses has declined sharply.
The council cited data showing that Taiwanese investment in Fujian Province approved by Taiwan’s government totaled US$67 million in the first 10 months of this year, down 94 percent year-on-year.
One of the measures outlined by Fujian officials was to promote investment in Taiwan.
Fujian Province would provide a one-time subsidy of 5,000 yuan (US$707) for Taiwanese who open restaurants in Taiwan serving Shaxian delicacies — a style of cuisine originating from Fujian Province’s Shaxian County.
The MAC said that the incentive “appears quite low,” and noted that it would monitor the real intent behind it and whether any related activities contravene regulations.
Aside from the 12 new measures, Fujian officials on Tuesday also said that plans are in place to build a range of infrastructure projects, including a second water pipeline to Kinmen County.
Currently, some of Kinmen County’s water is provided by Fujian Province through a pipeline that began operating in 2018, with a 2019 Xinhua report saying that its average daily supply exceeds 10,000m3.
The MAC downplayed that plan, saying that Water Resources Agency data show that Kinmen County has sufficient supply of water, with more than 75 percent coming from local sources, and that there was no need to build a second pipeline.
The MAC said that issues related to cross-strait infrastructure projects “were not matters that Chinese authorities can decide unilaterally,” but have to be considered and carefully evaluated by the central government, which has no plans to pursue such projects.
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