China Should Emulate Taiwan's Tech Policies

Taiwan's experience offers valuable lessons for China. His 11-day visit, which included a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, is significant not only because it highlighted the two sides' historical and cultural links, but also because it refocused the Chinese government's attention on areas where it could learn from and cooperate with Taiwan. A small island with few natural resources, Taiwan punches well above its weight economically. Today, Taiwan is the world's 22nd largest economy, with a GDP of $803 billion, and ranks 14th in per capita purchasing-power-parity terms. Just one firm, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, accounts for one-third of the stock market's total value. Taiwan dominates the global semiconductor-manufacturing industry, supplying over 60% of the world's semiconductors, and more than 90% of the most advanced chips - the vast majority produced by TSMC. The company's P/E ratio is particularly high, at 26.34. As of March 2024, Taiwan held the world's fifth-largest stock of foreign-exchange reserves, behind only China, Japan, Switzerland, and India.