China Exodus as Tech Returns to Taiwan

Find the Latest SoC Solutions
for... Automotive... IoT... Security... Audio... Video

A boatload of Taiwanese companies who moved their production operations to China decades ago are now sailing home. But the reason for this return voyage isn't what you might think. It's more about Xi Jinping.

eetasia.com, TAIPEI, Apr. 30, 2019 – 

In the past four months alone, 40 Taiwanese companies with significant operations in China have decided to leave the mainland. The movement, sometimes described in Taiwan as "the salmon run," hardly amounts to an exodus. Yet, it is a milestone for Taiwan after more than fifteen years of its government trying to lure these firms back from China.

Those who announced their departure from China have pledged to invest more than NT$200 billion (US$6.47 billion) in Taiwan, according to the Ministry of Economic Affairs in Taipei. More firms are expected to follow, the Ministry said. Meanwhile, more companies are suspected to have already returned – without fanfare.

The most common narrative is that the U.S.-China trade war has trigged this phenomenon. Punitive tariffs imposed on Chinese manufactured goods by the U.S. government are forcing companies with factories in China to face revenue losses.

Tariffs, however, are more likely just a handy cover story for firms who were already planning to leave China, revealed several high-level industry executives and government officials in Taipei recently interviewed by EE Times.

Instead of seeking a quick fix for what might be short-term political tension between China and the United States, Taiwan companies in China have long seen the writing on the wall.

 Back