Mainland market upgraded

According to media reports, the number of Taiwan-funded enterprises in Dongguan, South China's Guangdong province, has decreased to about 2,000 from a peak of more than 5,000.

In the early 1990s, a series of preferential land and tax policies adopted by the Chinese mainland attracted a number of enterprises from the island to set up plants in Dongguan producing shoes, clothes, toys and other labor-intensive products. Aside from the preferential policies, the mainland also offered advantages in labor and land costs compared with the island's at that time. The booming development of these enterprises also contributed to the annual 20 percent economic growth of Dongguan, a win-win result for the mainland and the island.

However, two decades have passed, many Dongguan-based Taiwan enterprises have failed to keep step with the times and they are still at the labor-intensive industrial stage. With the drastic decrease in overseas orders after the 2008 global financial crisis and rising costs, these enterprises have been under growing pressure and witnessed ever-shrinking profits.