Over 80% of Taiwan manufacturers invest in mainland: survey
(AFP)
Updated: 2006-01-06 15:50

Over 80 percent of Taiwan manufacturers have invested in the Chinese mainland, their main destination for 'overseas' projects, a survey shows.

The survey, conducted by the economic ministry in the second half of 2005 on 2,248 local manufacturers, showed some 81 percent of them had invested in the mainland, up from 76.7 percent in 2004 and 77.75 percent in 2003.

Nearly 45 percent of those with mainland investments said they were profitable, compared with 36 percent in the red and 19 percent whose businesses had collapsed.

"The survey indicated ... that more and more local manfacturers have switched to the mainland for business expansion, eyeing a huge market and rich human resources there," a ministry official said.

The Chinese mainland has attracted an estimated 80 billion US dollars channelled there over the years for various projects from local businesses and it replaced the United States as Taiwan's largest market in November 2002 despite mounting political tensions between the two sides.