Comment: Taiwanese companies’ return to mainland China proves the deep integration of production and supply chains

China News Service, Beijing, November 8th. Title: Taiwanese companies' "return" to mainland China confirms the deep integration of production and supply chains.

China News Service reporter Rong Haisheng

Taiwanese personal computer (PC) brands Asus and Acer have transferred part of their production capacity from Thailand and Vietnam back to mainland China. This adjustment has recently attracted the attention of Nikkei Asia and has become a hot topic in Taiwan. The "reshoring" of Taiwanese companies has made the outside world once again pay attention to the deep integration of cross-strait industrial and supply chains.

Recently, the global artificial intelligence (AI) craze has pushed up the prices of electronic components. Many Taiwanese companies, including PC manufacturers, have seen their profit margins compressed.

Needless to say, the comprehensive cost advantages brought by the mainland's complete industrial chain are the real attraction for Taiwanese businessmen to "reshor".

The quotation competitiveness of mainland OEMs stems from the fact that here is the most complete industrial system and manufacturing scale in the world. Coupled with the industrial density and supporting network accumulated over decades, it is still an industrial ecology that is difficult to replicate in Southeast Asia in the short term. Taiwanese businessmen are well-traveled around the world and naturally know where to find the fastest response and the most complete facilities.

In the supply chain, mainland China's self-produced chips are becoming a new sign to attract Taiwanese businessmen to "reshor".

In August this year, "Nikkei Asia" reported that ASUS and Acer had begun to use dynamic random access memory (DRAM) from the mainland company Changxin Memory in some PC products. A computer supply chain manager revealed to him that mainland manufacturers that provide foundry services are using "the ability to obtain local memory chips more smoothly" as a selling point to attract customers.

Currently, mainland China accounts for about 30% of the world's mature process chip production capacity, covering the supply of mature process chips of 28 nanometers and above. These chips are indispensable for AI servers, PCs and other equipment. When shortages drive up procurement costs, the cost performance and availability of mainland-produced chips become hard bargaining chips.

The "reshoring" of Taiwanese businessmen is based on their early layout in the mainland.

Like many Taiwanese companies in the electronics manufacturing industry, PC brands such as Asus and Acer have already been deeply involved in the mainland manufacturing system as early as around 2000. The Democratic Progressive Party authorities have advocated "decoupling and breaking links" in recent years, but continuous surveys by the Federation of Taiwan Industries from 2019 to 2024 show that most Taiwanese companies in mainland China choose to transfer part of their production capacity or transform on-site, while their mainland production bases remain.

In fact, the industrial foundation laid in the early years has become deeper and deeper in the AI ​​wave. According to Taiwan's "Business Times" list of "Top 1,000 Taiwanese Businessmen in Mainland China in 2026", among the top ten Taiwanese businessmen in terms of operating performance in 2025, eight are mainly engaged in the electronics industry; for the first time, the total after-tax net profit of Taiwanese businessmen in the electronics industry has reached 80% of the total of 1,000 Taiwanese businessmen. The performance of Taiwanese businessmen in fields such as semiconductors and printed circuit boards (PCBs) is particularly impressive.

It can be said that since the beginning of reform and opening up, Taiwanese companies have come to the mainland for development. After more than 40 years of integration, the two sides of the Taiwan Strait have formed a stable industrial chain and supply chain cooperation pattern. This is the result of economic laws and independent market choices.

In 2026, Taiwanese companies once again voted with their feet, indicating that the so-called "non-red supply chain", a political narrative that is forcibly bound to economic laws, is being recalibrated by the market. (over)