HONG KONG: To assist Taiwan, mainland authorities in December pledged 10 incentive plans, including 130 billion yuan ($19 billion) in loans for Taiwan companies operating on the mainland and purchases worth $2 billion of flat-panel displays from the island's companies.

The 130 billion yuan in loans to small and medium-sized enterprises will be issued by three mainland banks over the next two to three years. Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) and Bank of China (BOC) will provide 50 billion yuan each, while China Development Bank will offer 30 billion yuan in addition to a previous offer of 30 billion yuan, according to the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council.

The office also proposed to increase collaboration in agriculture sectors.

Taiwanese businessmen have invested an estimated $150 billion on the mainland and are clamoring for the island's financial firms to be permitted to offer services to ease access to funding and capital.

Beijing will also support participation by Taiwanese companies in public construction projects, strengthen cooperation in new energy development, electronics and traditional Chinese medicine, and allow Taiwanese lawyers to work on the mainland, according to Wang Yi, an official with the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council.

Surging orders from the mainland have prompted Taiwan's biggest LCD makers, AU and Chi Mei, to call some of their workers on unpaid leave back to work.

The two giant electronics firms earlier this month restarted some production lines that recently received an influx of orders from mainland customers.

(HK Edition 02/19/2009 page16)