Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/07/18
By: Tien Yu-pin and Frances Huang

Taipei, July 18 (CNA) Securities companies operating in Taiwan saw their net profit for June fall more than 70 percent from a month earlier, reflecting of a decline in share prices and a shrinkage in daily turnover, according to the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TWSE).

In June, the weighted index on the local main board fell 378.05 points, or 3.9 percent, from the end of May amid concerns over Greek debt and fears that a slowdown in the global high-tech sector would hurt the local electronics sector’s bottom line, analysts said.

Worries over an interest rate hike cycle to be launched by the U.S. Federal Reserve later in the year also turned many investors away from the trading floor, analysts added.     [FULL  STORY]

Want China Timnes
Date: 2015-07-18
By: CNA

Sales of small and mid-size luxury sport utility vehicles (SUVs) in Taiwan soared nearly

three-fold during the first six months of 2015 because of more SUV models coming on to the market, according to a local agent.

Hotai Motor, Taiwan’s largest automobile retailer and the distributor of Toyota and Lexus cars, said in a news release on Tuesday that Taiwan’s luxury car sales increased nearly 20% year-on-year in the first half of 2015.

The growth was driven by improving economic prospects, falling international oil prices and a general trend among consumers to replace older cars, Hotai Motor said.

In particular, sales of small and mid-size SUVs with a length of under 4.7 meters surged by 279.6% during the January-to-June period of this year after the launches of new models such as the Lexus NX, Porsche Macan and Benz GLA, Hotai Motor said.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/07/17
By: Tien Yu-pin and Frances Huang

Taipei, July 17 (CNA) Economic sentiment continued to weaken in July after a flurry of disappointing economic data, in particular regarding the country’s exports, which serve as the backbone of Taiwan’s economic growth, a survey showed Friday.

Cited in the survey, Cathay Financial Holding Co. (國泰金) said that several international organizations have lowered their forecasts for the world’s economic growth for 2015, dealing another blow to Taiwan’s economic sentiment.

Concerns over the debt problems in Greece also hurt local economic sentiment, Cathay Financial said. The survey, which collected 19,331 valid responses from its customers, was conducted between July 1 and July 10 before the Greek parliament passed a bailout agreement Wednesday.     [FULL  STORY]

Want China Times
Date: 2015-07-17
By: CNA

Renminbi-denominated deposits held by banks operating in Taiwan as of the end of June hit a

new high, but growth has shown signs of moderating, according to the central bank.

Statistics released by the central bank on Wednesday indicate that the balance of renminbi deposits received by banks in Taiwan as of the end of June totaled 338.22 billion yuan (US$54.6 billion), up 0.57% from a month earlier.

The latest month-on-month growth rate was lower than 1.8%, 1.7% and 1.9% recorded in March, April and May, respectively.

Market analysts said that the lower growth reflects moves by the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), China’s central bank, to cut interest rates four times since November 2014. They said that the lower interest rates in China prompted investors to move their funds out of their renminbi deposit accounts.     [FULL  STORY]

The Business Journal
Date: 07/16/2015
By: Hannah Esqueda

A group of local entrepreneurs is moving forward with plans to raise the profile of the region’s

Taiwanese population by opening businesses in what they hope will soon be known as the Central Valley’s “Little Taiwan.”

Similar cultural hubs exist for Taiwanese communities in Los Angeles and the Bay Area, said Stella Pan, co-owner of Hunan Chinese Restaurant, one of the group’s first businesses in the planned Little Taiwan.

Pan estimates the Central Valley’s Taiwanese population to be between 4,000-5,000 — not quite as large as other places.

“We’re a smaller community but we think we can build up a place [like that] in Fresno,” she said. “California is a big multi-cultural place and so we want to try and bring Taiwanese culture here so the next generation will know more about it.”

Since moving to Fresno with her family five years ago, she and her sister Jennifer Pan have teamed up with several other Taiwanese business owners, including husband and wife entrepreneurs Frank Su and Ally Tu, and business consultants Isaac Huang and Carl Wang.     [FULL  STORY]

Want China Times
Date: 2015-07-16
By: CNA

A Taiwanese industry leader said Tuesday that Taiwan’s semiconductor industry will be

seriously affected if the Tsinghua Group in mainland China succeeds in merging with Micron Technology, an American company that is a world leader in memory and semiconductor technology.

Hsu Sheng-hsiung, chairman of the Chinese National Federation of Industries, said China has set aside 150 billion yuan (US$24 billion) to boost its semiconductor sector, and a Micron-Tsinghua merger is part of the strategy.

The American hi-tech firm is unlikely to merge with Tsinghua though, considering the US government’s strict regulations against the transfer of high technology to China, he said.     [FULL  STORY]