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Taiwan-mainland China investment plunges to 22-year low as politics plague ties
- Investment figures on both sides of the Taiwan Strait have fallen to new lows thanks to political tension and consequent shifts in supply chains
- Many Taiwanese companies are moving outside the mainland, but some still seek to do business there and are finding workarounds
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Taiwanese investments approved for mainland China, a historic destination for the island’s export manufacturing sector, fell to a 22-year-low in 2023 while mainland investment in Taiwan also plumbed new depths, showing both sides of the strait have been impacted by political friction and global supply chain shifts.
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Investments approved for Taiwanese companies in the mainland reached about US$3.04 billion last year, the Department of Investment Review under Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs said on Monday. That figure covered 328 specific project applications.
The dollar figure is the lowest for any single year since 2001, when it reached just US$2.78 billion, department data shows. The department approved 1,186 projects that year.
Taiwanese investors, once lured by the mainland’s lower costs, have been branching out to US-allied countries since 2018. This shift gets them around US tariffs on mainland-originated exports and meets US demands that they avoid selling sensitive technology to clients across the strait.
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