Taiwanese workers leaving mainland China over Covid-19, political tensions, factory departures
- Just 163,000 Taiwanese worked in mainland China in 2021, down from over 400,000 in 2011, with the total having fallen for eight consecutive years
- Zero-Covid restrictions on cross-border movement are seen to have deterred some workers, along with the rising costs of business and the US-China trade war
The Taiwanese workforce based in mainland China shrank by nearly two-thirds over the past decade, according to a government report in Taipei, a trend that analysts link to new business obstacles, zero-Covid rules and increased political tensions.
Just 163,000 Taiwanese worked in mainland China in 2021, making up 51 per cent of the island’s total population working offshore, the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics said in an annual report on overseas labour released on Tuesday.
It marks a decrease of 261,000 from over 400,000 in 2011, with the total having fallen for eight consecutive years up to 2021, the report added.
Taiwanese were among the first offshore investors in mainland China, having opened factories as far back as the 1980s to ride an economic upsurge that came as Beijing began allowing foreign capital.
Mainland China is less friendly now for foreign businesses. The workers will move in step with their employers
Some Western multinationals have also hired Taiwanese employees to help manage their mainland properties.