A report issued in October 2022 by the US-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies
(CSIS) on Taiwan and China's business linkages, assessed that Taiwanese companies are highly concerned about their potential over dependence on the Chinese economy and the
possibility of a military conflict. It said in 2021, two-way trade between China (both Mainland
China and Hong Kong) and Taiwan was $273 billion, with China accounting for 42.3 percent
of Taiwan’s exports. Through the end of 2021, cumulative Taiwanese investment in China
totalled nearly 200 billion USD. And as of 2020 (the last year for which data is available), there
were an estimated 240,000 Taiwanese working in Mainland China. Among the surveyed
companies 60% had ongoing operations in China. Just over half of respondents reported that
China accounts for less than 10% of their total revenue, and another 20% said China accounts
for 10 to 25 % of their business. That means 25% depended on China for a quarter or more of
their revenue. These numbers show the possible magnitude of economic costs stemming from
the decisions to relocate from China. 76% of respondents agreed with the statement, “Taiwan
needs to reduce its economic dependence on Mainland China,” while only 20% disagreed. Over
a quarter of the surveyed Taiwanese firms with business in China had already moved some of
their production or sourcing out of China, and another third were considering doing so. The
AmCham reported in their latest survey that around 16% of their members, all American
companies, had “redirected business from China to Taiwan over the past five years.” Only 30%
percent said they had no plans to move at all. Of those on the move, a substantial majority
(63%) were moving to Southeast Asia, but slightly over half were moving some of their
business back to Taiwan
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