Dutch brewing company Heineken NV has announced an investment of NT$13.5 billion (US$414.62 million) over the next five years in Taiwan. Heineken, the first multinational brewing company to operate in Taiwan, made the statement at a ceremony held at its brewery in Pingtung County. The brewery began production in the first quarter of this year and Heineken hopes to supply 'Made in Taiwan' products to neighboring countries from its Pingtung brewery. Taiwan is Heineken's second-largest export market in the world. The investment is significant for Taiwan and its farmers, according to Vice President William Lai. Heineken also outlined its efforts to make the brewery 'net zero' by 2030 [e529867c].
Taiwanese businesspeople's investments in China hit a record low of 11.4% of total foreign investment last year, a huge decline from 83.8% in 2010. From 1991 to last year, 45,523 Taiwanese investments in China totaling US$206.37 billion had been approved, accounting for 50.7% of overall foreign investment. The amount and proportion of Taiwanese investments in China has been declining, with 328 investments last year totaling US$3.04 billion, a decrease of 39.8% from the same period a year earlier. Taiwanese businesspeople have been diversifying their investments globally over the past few years, reducing investment in China and increasing investment in the US, Europe, Japan, and countries covered by the government's New Southbound Policy to diversify production risks. Many Taiwanese businesspeople have lost hope in China's economy under the governance of Chinese President Xi Jinping and have formulated five-year plans to withdraw from the nation. Taiwan's economic growth last year was 1.4%. Taiwan's stock market remains bullish, mainly because Taiwanese businesspeople took their capital from China to invest it in the local stock market.
Taiwanese firms reduced investment into China to the lowest level since 2001, with new spending declining by 39.8% year-on-year to $3.04 billion, according to the Ministry of Economic Affairs in Taipei. This decrease in investment is seen as a response to escalating tech disputes between the US and China. Taiwanese companies are diversifying their production risks by increasing investment in the US, Europe, Japan, and other countries. The US is restricting China's access to leading technologies, leading to a decline in China's chip imports. China accounted for 11% of Taiwan's total outbound investment in 2023, down from 34% the previous year. Investment by Taiwanese companies outside of China increased by 136.7% year-on-year to a record $23.6 billion, driven by investments by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) in the US and Germany.
China's cooling economy is reducing its leverage against Taiwan as the island's businesses increasingly invest elsewhere. Taiwan's top research institution, Academia Sinica, forecasts that the tech hub's GDP will grow by over 3 percent, more than double last year's growth. Taiwan invested just $3 billion in China last year, a 40 percent drop year-on-year and a 21-year low. The island has been investing heavily in South and Southeast Asian nations to decrease its reliance on China. Chinese pressure on Taiwan includes bans on agricultural products, trade barriers, and threats of trade sanctions. [b997448f][88b8b708]
China's efforts to attract foreign investment have encountered setbacks as data reveals a continued slowdown for the third consecutive month in March compared to the previous year. Actual new foreign investments in China amounted to 87 billion yuan (USD12 billion) last month, marking a significant 38 percent decrease compared to the same period in 2023. Vice Minister of Commerce, Guo Tingting, disclosed that inward investments during the first quarter of the year totaled 301 billion yuan, reflecting a substantial 26 percent decline from the corresponding period in the previous year. A survey conducted among US companies at the beginning of the year revealed that nearly half of the respondents had no intentions to expand their investments in China, despite some signs of improving US-China relations.
