Governance of Biodiversity Conservation in China And Taiwan

relaxed regulations or implemented them more loosely.^57 Hsiao calls this an
‘opportunist strategy of exit’, which he compares to the behavior of multi-
national corporations entering Taiwan before 1980.
Table 6.1 presents information on cross-strait trade from 1997 to 2005.
Table 6.2 summarizes Taiwanese investment in China in more recent years.
Clearly, the opportunity for environmental effects from trade and investments
of this size is immense.

Table 6.1 Cross-strait trade values (1997–2005)

Year Taiwan’s exports to Taiwan’s imports from
mainland China mainland China

1997 22455.2 3915.4
1998 19840.9 4110.5
1999 21312.5 4552.2
2000 25009.9 6223.3
2001 24061.3 5902.2
2002 29465.0 7947.7
2003 35357.7 10962.0
2004 44960.4 16678.7
2005 * 37295.0 14510.5

Notes: Units = US$millions.
*January–September 2005.

Source: Cross-Strait Economic Statistics Monthly, no. 155, Mainland Affairs Council, Executive
Yuan, see http://210.34.17.189/new_page_trade2.htm. (Taiwan’s exports are based on statistics of
Taiwan’s Customs Division.)

Table 6.2 Taiwanese investment in mainland China

Year Approved by the MOEA

No. of applications Investment amount

2003 1837.00 4595.99
2004 2004.00 6940.66
2005 1297.00 6007.00
Accumulated value since 1991 344520.00 47256.20

Notes: Units = US$ million. Figures include late reports and approvals. The 2003–05 figures are
not totalled because of rounding errors.
Sources: Investment Commission, Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA), Taiwan, Republic of
China. Also see http://www.mac.gov.tw/big5/statistic/em/157/12.pdf.

150 Governance of biodiversity conservation in China and Taiwan