Taiwan investment in China rises sharply in 2010

January 02, 2011 | 21:11

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Taiwanese companies have invested $13.3 billion in China this year, up 119.8 per cent from the previous year, a report said Friday.

The Investment Commission has approved 408 China-bound investment applications this year in areas such as the electronics, petrochemical, auto and banking sectors, said the state Central News Agency.

The largest such application was leading flat panel maker AU Optronics Corporation's plan to spend three billion US dollars on a liquid crystal display plant in China, it said.

Hon Hai, the parent company of Foxconn, the world's largest computer components maker, which produces goods for Apple, Sony and Nokia, was authorised to invest $1.2 billion in China this year, it added.

The commission's officials were not immediately available for comment.

China still sees Taiwan as part of its territory and refuses to renounce the use of force against the island, which has ruled itself since the end of a civil war in 1949.

Despite this, Taiwanese businesses are among the biggest overseas players in China, which is the island's largest export market.

The two sides signed a major trade deal earlier this year amid a fast improvement in ties that started when Beijing-friendly Ma Ying-jeou became Taiwan's president in 2008.

AFP

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