Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/04/05
By: Han Ting-ting and Ted Chen

Taipei, April 5 (CNA) As China’s “One Belt, One Road” strategy and its Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank initiative gather steam, Taiwanese companies are likely to benefit from the immense surge in construction projects anticipated throughout Asia, according to Taiwan-based institutional investors.

The Asia Development Bank has estimated that annual demand for capital to fund basic infrastructure investment among governments in Asia will reach US$730 billion by 2020.

China International Capital Corp., the largest investment banking and research firm in China, said it anticipates that Beijing will pour more than US$1.65 trillion into its “one belt, one road” strategy over the next decade, much of which will flow to neighboring nations in Asia.     [FULL  STORY]

Want China Times
Editorial
Date: 2015-04-05

The fifth Taiwan-Shanghai forum organized by Want Daily and the Chinese municipality is set

to open April 3, and we hope that finding a way to ease worries among Taiwanese companies over Beijing’s Notice No. 62 will be discussed across the Taiwan Strait.

The notice, issued by the State Council in late 2014, requires local authorities to remove preferential tax incentives that are not in line with existing laws and regulations by the end of March.

Although Premier Li Keqiang promised to continue offering Taiwanese companies reasonable preferential treatment in mid-March, his remarks have failed to dispel the concerns.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/04/04
By: Wei Shu and Frances Huang

Taipei, April 4 (CNA) Residential and commercial property transactions in March rebounded in Taipei, Taoyuan and Tainan cities as the number of business days returned to normal during the month, after the Lunar New Year holiday in February, market analysts said Saturday.

More importantly, transactions were boosted in March because concerns over the capital gains tax targeting home sales showed signs of fading, and investors rushed to return to the market to buy, analysts said.

According to market statistics, transactions of homes, offices and shops in Taipei in March rose 17.7 percent from a month earlier to 2,179 units. Taipei, the capital of Taiwan, is the most watched property market in the country.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/04/04
By: Wu Ching-chun and Frances Huang

Taipei, April 4 (CNA) Banks registered in Taiwan suffered a fall in profit for the first two months of this year after financial authorities here imposed restrictions on the trading of a type of risky derivatives, according to the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC).

Statistics compiled by the FSC, the top financial regulator in Taiwan, showed that pretax profit posted by 39 banks operating in Taiwan totaled NT$52.57 billion (US$1.68 billion) for the two-month period, down from NT$54.77 billion recorded a year earlier.

The FSC said that the fall in pretax profit resulted from lower bottom lines for the banks’ offshore banking units (OBUs). These OBUs’ sales in target redemption forward (TRF), a kind of risky options perceived to have higher risks, had dropped in the first two months due to tighter government sales rules.     [FULL  STORY]

Want China Timesa
Date: 2015-04-04
By: Huang Hsin and Staff Reporter

The China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) will hold its first working meeting in

Beijing this month to discuss share distribution and select a bank governor and other officials.

Guangzhou-based 21st Century Business Herald said the first meeting was originally scheduled for March 30, but because more countries than expected applied, it was postponed until the end of April.

According to the latest figures from China’s Ministry of Finance, 52 countries, including Taiwan, applied to join the AIIB as founding members before the March 31 deadline.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2015/04/04
By: Jackson Chang and Frances Huang

Taipei, April 4 (CNA) Many investors are waiting for comments to be made by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC, 台積電) in an upcoming symposium and investor conference for more clues about the outlook for the global semiconductor sector before they decide on what to do with TSMC shares, market analysts said Saturday.

TSMC, the world’s largest contract chip maker, has scheduled three technology symposiums in the United States later this month.

In the first, to be held in San Jose, California April 7, TSMC president and co-CEO Mark Liu (劉德音) is expected to make a keynote speech on which the market is keeping a close eye for a better understanding about the climate of the world’s semiconductor industry.     [FULL  STORY]