Taiwanese manufacturers head home as problems in mainland China mount

Taiwan's Jeff Wu ran an Asustek Computer sales office for 12 years in Shanghai, but this year he decided to close shop.

His sales office of 100 people once prospered because Wu knew the ins and outs of the Taiwanese-branded PC gear. He also retained customers by being extra polite, eschewing what he considers typical mainland Chinese brusqueness. He sank one million yuan (HK$1.3 million) into rent and remodelled. But it didn't stop mainland Chinese vendors from learning his techniques. In time, PC sales migrated to e-commerce, as Shanghai's rents grew too expensive.

Wu, 50, says he will take his profits back to Taiwan and start a new venture, although he's still looking around for the right one. "I'm part of a group of people who has been eliminated," he said, referring to offline sales of Taiwanese hi-tech gear by Taiwanese citizens. "We are not useful for any kind of work involving sales."

Wu is part of a homecoming movement of sorts, to hear the government in Taiwan tell it.

Taiwanese entrepreneurs with operations in mainland China, a multibillion-dollar force, are investing in their home market again. They want to escape mounting business risks. Some investors hope to reap advantages, including government incentives, that are harder to find in the People's Republic.

Since 2006, Taiwanese companies have launched projects either by leaving the mainland or using capital once intended for mainland expansion, the island's government says.