China's latest measures will fail to draw Taiwanese investment: MAC

Taipei, Dec. 3 (CNA) China's latest package of 12 measures aimed at advancing cross-Taiwan Strait "integration" will have little effect in attracting Taiwanese investment, Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) predicted Tuesday.

The MAC was responding to a report by China's state-run Xinhua News Agency on Tuesday that the Fujian provincial government has announced 12 new measures to further "advance" Fujian as a "cross-strait integrated development demonstration zone."

The measures include offering preferential insurance premiums to Taiwan-funded aquaculture firms as well as efforts to improve tax services for Taiwanese individuals and businesses, including the establishment of a dedicated tax consultation hotline.

In a statement Tuesday evening, the MAC predicted the measures would fail based on similar efforts in recent years that the agency said have had "far from ideal" results.

It said Fujian has rolled out 74 measures targeting investment by Taiwanese businesses and individuals since Beijing issued a policy paper in September 2023 designating Fujian as a demonstration zone, yet investment there by Taiwanese businesses has declined sharply.

The council cited data showing that Taiwanese investment in Fujian approved by Taiwan's government totaled US$67 million in the first 10 months of 2025, down 94 percent from a year earlier.

One of the new measures outlined by Fujian officials Tuesday was actually to promote investment in Taiwan.

Fujian will provide a one-time subsidy of 5,000 Chinese yuan (US$707) for Taiwanese who open restaurants in Taiwan serving Shaxian delicacies -- a style of cuisine originating from Fujian's Shaxian County.

Responding specifically to that measure, the MAC said the incentive "appears quite low," and noted that it will monitor the real intent behind it and whether any related activities violate Taiwan's regulations.

Aside from the 12 new measures, meanwhile, Fujian officials also said Tuesday that plans are in place to build a range of infrastructure projects, including a second water pipeline to Kinmen -- a Taiwan-held outlying county that lies just off Fujian's coast.

Currently, part of Kinmen's water supply is provided by Fujian through a pipeline that began operating in 2018, with a 2019 Xinhua report stating that its average daily supply exceeds 10,000 cubic meters.

The MAC downplayed the idea, saying that according to Water Resources Agency data, Kinmen currently has a sufficient supply of water, with more than 75 percent coming from local sources, and that there was no need to build a second water pipeline.

The council said issues related to cross-strait infrastructure projects "were not matters that Chinese authorities could decide unilaterally" but that had to be considered and carefully evaluated by Taiwan's central government, which currently has no plans to pursue such projects.