Fujian's Newland Group told Beijing Business Today that its application to purchase a controlling stake in Taiwan's Dipu Technologies Co., Ltd had been approved by the Ministry of Commerce. Newland is the first Chinese mainland enterprise approved to invest in Taiwan.

"This is a milestone," Zhu Lei, an expert from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Taiwan Research Institute, said yesterday. "Many mainland enterprises are planning to expand into Taiwan. The Newland development marks the beginning of two-way cross-Straits investment. At the end of 2008, the Chinese mainland had 77,506 Taiwanese investment projects worth US$47.66 billion. But mainland investments in Taiwan are measured in farthings."

Zhu cautioned that mainland enterprises should conduct thorough research and analysis before investing in Taiwan.

Taiwan opened up 100 categories of manufacturing, service and infrastructure sectors to Chinese mainland investment on June 30, 2009. Mainland companies and institutions will be allowed to set up branch offices and wholly-owned or joint-venture companies on the island.

Besides Newland, dozens of mainland enterprises, including Fujian Industrial Bank and Xiamen ITG Group, have immediate plans to invest in Taiwan.

For more information, please consult the Chinese coverage here:

http://www.bbtnews.com.cn/political/channel/political74555.shtml

(China.org.cn by Li Xiaohua July 30, 2009)