Taiwan's Trade Surplus With China Hit New High in 2005

This article was published by the Taiwan Headlines on March 1, 2006. It reports that Taiwan's trade plus with China topped US$3.18 billion in 2005, surging trough the US$30 billion mark for the first time.

According to the Bureau of Foreign Trade under the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Taiwan's exports to china soared 15.2 percent in 2005 -- and 29 percent in December alone. This was far higher than shipments to any other market in the world. A total of US$51.8 billion worth of Taiwan-made products went to China, accounting for 27.3 percent of the nation's total exports.

Taiwan's trade surplus with China exceeded the US$10 billion mark in 1993, and the US$20 billion mark in 2002.

In 2005, integrated-circuit chips and micro devices remained Taiwan's largest export category to China, valued at US$12.7 billion and representing 18 percent of all of Taiwan's China-bound exports. This category grew nearly 15 percent in 2005.

Meanwhile, Taiwan's imports from China toped US$20 billion in 2005, accounting for 11 percent of all of the nation's total imports. China is Taiwan's third-largest source of imports, following Japan and the United States.