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Taiwan Encouraged to `Keep it Within the Family'
Economists and officials predict it is now the best time for overseas companies, including those in Taiwan, to invest in the Chinese mainland.
With China's pending accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the globalization of the economy, a new wave of global transference of technology and capital is approaching," Hui Yongzheng, former vice-minister of China's Ministry of Science and Technology, said.
He was speaking at the Forum on New Economy in Asia in Shanghai on Sunday.
Hui, currently director of the National Traditional Chinese Medicine Innovation Centre in Pudong's Zhangjiang, said China will become one of the major destinations for global transference of money and skills.
He cited research, such as that on man-made liver in Chongqing Medical University, to prove that the mainland is rich in scientific and technological research achievements.
"What we lack are the mechanisms to allow them to be industrialized," Hui said to a group of Taiwan alumni from the Freeman Business School at America's Tulane University.
China also has more than 2 million graduates each year and many well-equipped research institutes, Hui said.
Since China's negotiations to enter the WTO are progressing well, the signs are clear that foreign investors have started to expand their business activities on the mainland.
"Taiwan companies, with the same Chinese background as the mainland, should not lose sight of any opportunity at this critical point," Hui said.
Shang-jyh Liu, a participating professor from Taiwan's National Chiao Tung University, echoed Hui's opinion.
"We came to the conference in a bid to understand the mainland better and hope to bring more co-operation opportunities to interested industries in Taiwan," Liu said.
He said he believed the mainland market could attract more investment from Taiwan. "After all, we (the mainland and Taiwan) are like brothers in one family. Doing business is still easier within one family," Liu said.
He praised the development of the mainland, especially Shanghai and Shanghai's Pudong.
"The Pudong government is very smart to take two industries -- biomedicine and information-related business -- as its core for development," he said.
Taiwan is one of the world's key production centres for micro-electronics. Its experience and lessons can also be beneficial for Pudong, said both Hui and Liu. [Source: chinadaily.com.cn]
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