Taiwan's tightening of agricultural investment in China

Introduction: Taipei, Dec 22: Taiwan will strictly restrict agricultural investment in mainland China in order to protect the island's agriculture, and hundreds of projects will be added to the list of restrictions, a Taiwan government spokesman said on Sunday After China's accession to the WTO, Taiwan recently lifted the restrictions on direct investment and technology investment in China's mainland, but then made a decision to tighten investment in agriculture in the mainland In a statement, the Agriculture Commission said that at Friday's Government Committee meeting, 436 agricultural products were included in the list of restricted investment, compared with only 13 in the current list The cabinet usually passes the recommendations of such a cross ministerial committee meeting within a week The new restrictions include pork, chicken, tuna, fruit, vegetables, rice and peanuts, as well as items related to processed products The products listed in the list mean that Taiwanese businessmen cannot invest in China for this product The committee said that after China and Taiwan join the WTO, the economic and trade relations between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait will be more open Taiwan will gradually increase projects to adjust the agricultural relations between the two places to ensure the stability of local agricultural development After China's accession to the WTO in early December, Taiwan will become a full member of the WTO in January 2002 Beijing believes that Taiwan is a province of China and must be unified eventually If it needs to resort to force, Taiwan's investment restrictions on China are mainly due to its fear of economic dependence on political opponents Taiwan has also lifted restrictions on China's direct investment for up to 50 years and simplified the examination and approval procedures for investment projects under US $20 million The opening measures are part of a basket plan adopted by President Chen Shui Bian's think tank in August to save the island's sinking economy Taiwan's economy fell 4.21 percentage points in the third quarter, the most in 26 years Despite the tension between the two sides, since the policy was relaxed in the late 1980s, Taiwan's investors have invested more than 60 billion US dollars in mainland China, mainly due to the lure of low land and labor costs, as well as the convenience brought by language and culture communication.