Taiwan has replaced Hong Kong for the first time in history as the biggest investor in Xiamen in east China's Fujian province.
According to the latest statistics released by the Overseas Investment Commission of Xiamen city government, Taiwanese investors injected a total of US$232 million into 124 projects in the city during the first 10 months of this year.
The figure accounts for 23.9 percent of the overall increased contractual investment in the city during the period by overseas investors, overtaking the sum of investment from Hong Kong for the first time. No figure was given on the Hong Kong amount of investment.
Zhong Xingguo, director of the commission, attributed the rapid increase of investment from Taiwan to the deteriorating political and business environment on the island of Taiwan, making the politically stable Xiamen, with its improved infrastructure, an attractive place for investment.
Xiamen approved 277 overseas-funded projects during the period, involving contractual investment of US$1.04 billion, up 30 percent and 19 percent, respectively, over the same period of last year.
Xiamen has used US$12.45 billion of overseas investment during the past two decades, involving 5,268 projects
(China Daily December 3, 2001)
