Exposure to China among financial service companies in Taiwan fell 8.9 percent from a year earlier to NT$1.02 trillion (US$31.41 billion) at the end of last quarter amid concerns over a slowing Chinese economy and rising geopolitical risks, data compiled by the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) showed yesterday.
Their exposure was down NT$100.018 billion as Taiwanese banks cut their combined exposure — including lending, investments and interbank loans and deposits — to NT$936.161 billion, down NT$73.997 billion, or 7.33 percent, from a year earlier, commission data showed.
Local banks’ exposure to China reached the lowest level since the commission started tallying it in the third quarter of 2013.
Photo: AFP
Taiwanese banks in the second quarter scaled back lending to the Chinese market by a combined NT$77.259 billion from a year earlier and decreased investments by NT$7.659 billion over the same period, although interbank loans to Chinese counterparts rose by NT$10.922 billion, the FSC said.
Their exposure accounted for 20.3 percent of the sector’s net worth at the end of second quarter, sliding for a 24th straight quarter and also hitting the lowest level since the data became available, the data showed.
Taiwanese insurance companies’ investments in marketable securities in China fell 25.8 percent from a year earlier to NT$70.3 billion at the end of last quarter, accounting for only 0.21 percent of the sector’s total disposable funds, the commission said.
The investments in Chinese securities were all made by life insurers, while property and casualty insurers have held no securities in China since January last year, it said.
Taiwanese securities and futures brokerages, as well as securities investment trust and consulting firms, cut their combined exposure to China by 9.67 percent annually to NT$14.207 billion at the end of last quarter, accounting for a mere 1.88 percent of the sector’s net worth, it said.
Taiwan’s technology protection rules prohibits Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) from producing 2-nanometer chips abroad, so the company must keep its most cutting-edge technology at home, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. Kuo made the remarks in response to concerns that TSMC might be forced to produce advanced 2-nanometer chips at its fabs in Arizona ahead of schedule after former US president Donald Trump was re-elected as the next US president on Tuesday. “Since Taiwan has related regulations to protect its own technologies, TSMC cannot produce 2-nanometer chips overseas currently,” Kuo said at a meeting of the legislature’s
TECH WAR CONTINUES: The suspension of TSMC AI chips and GPUs would be a heavy blow to China’s chip designers and would affect its competitive edge Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s biggest contract chipmaker, is reportedly to halt supply of artificial intelligence (AI) chips and graphics processing units (GPUs) made on 7-nanometer or more advanced process technologies from next week in order to comply with US Department of Commerce rules. TSMC has sent e-mails to its Chinese AI customers, informing them about the suspension starting on Monday, Chinese online news outlet Ijiwei.com (愛集微) reported yesterday. The US Department of Commerce has not formally unveiled further semiconductor measures against China yet. “TSMC does not comment on market rumors. TSMC is a law-abiding company and we are
FLEXIBLE: Taiwan can develop its own ground station equipment, and has highly competitive manufacturers and suppliers with diversified production, the MOEA said The Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) yesterday disputed reports that suppliers to US-based Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX) had been asked to move production out of Taiwan. Reuters had reported on Tuesday last week that Elon Musk-owned SpaceX had asked their manufacturers to produce outside of Taiwan given geopolitical risks and that at least one Taiwanese supplier had been pushed to relocate production to Vietnam. SpaceX’s requests place a renewed focus on the contentious relationship Musk has had with Taiwan, especially after he said last year that Taiwan is an “integral part” of China, sparking sharp criticism from Taiwanese authorities. The ministry said
US President Joe Biden’s administration is racing to complete CHIPS and Science Act agreements with companies such as Intel Corp and Samsung Electronics Co, aiming to shore up one of its signature initiatives before US president-elect Donald Trump enters the White House. The US Department of Commerce has allocated more than 90 percent of the US$39 billion in grants under the act, a landmark law enacted in 2022 designed to rebuild the domestic chip industry. However, the agency has only announced one binding agreement so far. The next two months would prove critical for more than 20 companies still in the process
RSS