Taiwan to Zero in on 8 Industries Industrial Cooperation Talks With China

2012/02/01 Taipei, Feb. 1, 2012 (CENS)--The Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) plans to put eight rising industries high on the agenda in the regular talks on industrial cooperation with mainland China this year. The industries are Chinese herbal medicine, telecommunications, electric vehicle, renewable energy, business services, LED lighting, metal materials, biotech and medical equipment. Senior officials of the ministry pointed out that electric vehicle is included in the list for the first time on ground that the mainland is a huge market for branding while Taiwan is good at making key components, including motors, lithium batteries, electrical control systems, and onboard electronics. Informed sources pointed out that the mainland's top vehicle brands, including FAW Group Corp., Chery Automobile Co., Ltd. and Geely Holding Group, are interested in working with Taiwan's components makers to develop electric cars. Taiwan's manufacturers as E-One Moli Energy Corp., Amita Technologies Inc., the TECO Group, and Delta Electronics Inc. are expected to benefit from the deals once they are confirmed. Ministry officials also pointed out that cooperation on telecommunications involves broad topics ranging from Internet of Things to wireless city. They said in the upcoming talks they will suggest the mainland open more cities for field tests of wireless connections. As for the LED lighting industry, Taiwan plans to suggest the mainland add province-level prefecture to city-level prefecture as field-test ground for LED lighting. The ministry aims to convince the mainland to open Shandong, Shanxi, Jiangsu and northeastern provinces in the initial stage. The metal materials industry is also included in the agenda, as the mainland is a huge market for metal materials while Taiwan owns advanced processing technologies, according to the officials. The officials will add low-temperature logistics to electronic commerce, chain store expansion, and logistics in the talks over business services cooperation. It is the fourth year of the regular talks between Taiwan and the mainland over industrial cooperation. According to the ministry, as of the end of 2011 approximately 280 contracts were signed by around 1,463 manufacturers from 17 industries of the two sides in 36 conference sessions, which were attended by around 15,571 representatives.