Local banks’ combined lending and investment in China as of the end of June fell 6.4 percent to NT$1.46 trillion (US$52.3 billion) from NT$1.56 trillion a year earlier, Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) data showed on Friday.
Bank of Taiwan (臺灣銀行) lowered its exposure to China to NT$50 billion from NT$81 billion a year earlier, the largest cut among all Taiwanese banks, pushing down its ratio of exposure to China from 22 percent a year earlier to 13 percent, the data showed.
The seven other state-run banks also slashed their exposure to the country.
Photo: Bloomberg
Mega International Commercial Bank (兆豐銀行) reduced its exposure by NT$20 billion to NT$123 billion, which remained the highest among state-owned lenders, the data showed.
Taiwan Cooperative Bank (合作金庫銀行) reported exposure of NT$64 billion to China, down by NT$16 billion from a year earlier, while Hua Nan Commercial Bank (華南銀行) reduced its exposure by NT$12 billion to NT$25 billion, the data showed.
Several privately owned banks also decreased their lending and investment in China, but did so at a slower pace than their state-run peers.
CTBC Bank (中國信託銀行), which had the greatest exposure to China among all local banks, reported that its investment and lending in China was NT$187 billion as of the end of June, down by NT$5 billion from a year earlier, but still higher than any other bank, the FSC said.
Taipei Fubon Commercial Bank (台北富邦銀行) lowered its exposure by NT$7 billion to NT$117 billion, which was the fourth-highest after CTBC Bank’s NT$187 billion, Cathay United Bank’s (國泰世華銀行) NT$130 billion and Mega Bank’s NT$123 billion, the data showed.
Shanghai Commercial and Savings Bank Ltd (上海商業儲蓄銀行) decreased its exposure by NT$17 billion to NT$74 billion, while Yuanta Commercial Bank (元大銀行) cut exposure by NT$12 billion to NT$20 billion, the data showed.
A few banks bucked the trend by increasing their exposure to China: Cathay United Bank boosted its exposure by NT$21 billion to NT$130 billion, Bank SinoPac (永豐銀行) raised exposure by NT$5 billion to NT$80 billion and KGI Bank (凱基銀行) increase exposure by NT$9 billion to NT$42 billion, the data showed.
Newly launched Web-only banks Rakuten International Commercial Bank Co (樂天國際銀行) and Line Bank Taiwan Ltd (連線商業銀行) did not offer loans or invest in China, as they focus on consumer lending, the commission said.
Overall, local banks’ combined exposure to China accounted for 37 percent of the banks’ combined net value, down from 41 percent a year earlier, the data showed.
DECOUPLING? In a sign of deeper US-China technology decoupling, Apple has held initial talks about using Baidu’s generative AI technology in its iPhones, the Wall Street Journal said China has introduced guidelines to phase out US microprocessors from Intel Corp and Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) from government PCs and servers, the Financial Times reported yesterday. The procurement guidance also seeks to sideline Microsoft Corp’s Windows operating system and foreign-made database software in favor of domestic options, the report said. Chinese officials have begun following the guidelines, which were unveiled in December last year, the report said. They order government agencies above the township level to include criteria requiring “safe and reliable” processors and operating systems when making purchases, the newspaper said. The US has been aiming to boost domestic semiconductor
Nvidia Corp earned its US$2.2 trillion market cap by producing artificial intelligence (AI) chips that have become the lifeblood powering the new era of generative AI developers from start-ups to Microsoft Corp, OpenAI and Google parent Alphabet Inc. Almost as important to its hardware is the company’s nearly 20 years’ worth of computer code, which helps make competition with the company nearly impossible. More than 4 million global developers rely on Nvidia’s CUDA software platform to build AI and other apps. Now a coalition of tech companies that includes Qualcomm Inc, Google and Intel Corp plans to loosen Nvidia’s chokehold by going
ENERGY IMPACT: The electricity rate hike is expected to add about NT$4 billion to TSMC’s electricity bill a year and cut its annual earnings per share by about NT$0.154 Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) has left its long-term gross margin target unchanged despite the government deciding on Friday to raise electricity rates. One of the heaviest power consuming manufacturers in Taiwan, TSMC said it always respects the government’s energy policy and would continue to operate its fabs by making efforts in energy conservation. The chipmaker said it has left a long-term goal of more than 53 percent in gross margin unchanged. The Ministry of Economic Affairs concluded a power rate evaluation meeting on Friday, announcing electricity tariffs would go up by 11 percent on average to about NT$3.4518 per kilowatt-hour (kWh)
OPENING ADDRESS: The CEO is to give a speech on the future of high-performance computing and artificial intelligence at the trade show’s opening on June 3, TAITRA said Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) chairperson and chief executive officer Lisa Su (蘇姿丰) is to deliver the opening keynote speech at Computex Taipei this year, the event’s organizer said in a statement yesterday. Su is to give a speech on the future of high-performance computing (HPC) in the artificial intelligence (AI) era to open Computex, one of the world’s largest computer and technology trade events, at 9:30am on June 3, the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) said. Su is to explore how AMD and the company’s strategic technology partners are pushing the limits of AI and HPC, from data centers to