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Viewing cable 06TAIPEI1487, TAIWAN TAKING OVER PRC ONE NOODLE BOWL AT A TIME

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
06TAIPEI1487 2006-05-01 07:54 2011-08-30 01:44 CONFIDENTIAL American Institute Taiwan, Taipei
VZCZCXRO9399
RR RUEHCN RUEHGH
DE RUEHIN #1487/01 1210754
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 010754Z MAY 06
FM AIT TAIPEI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 9953
INFO RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 5139
RUEHCN/AMCONSUL CHENGDU 1234
RUEHGZ/AMCONSUL GUANGZHOU 9286
RUEHHK/AMCONSUL HONG KONG 6344
RUEHGH/AMCONSUL SHANGHAI 0097
RUEHSH/AMCONSUL SHENYANG 5192
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHINGTON DC
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TAIPEI 001487 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EAP/TC 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/25/2016 
TAGS: ECON EINV CH TW
SUBJECT: TAIWAN TAKING OVER PRC ONE NOODLE BOWL AT A TIME 
 
Classified By: AIT Deputy Director David J. Keegan, Reason 1.4 d 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
1. (C) Two Taiwan firms, Tingyi and Uni-President, dominate 
the instant noodle and ready-to-drink tea markets in the 
PRC with a combined market share of more than 50 percent. 
Both complain of Taiwan's cross-Strait economic 
restrictions that prevent them from pursuing a strategy 
that looks at the Taiwan and PRC markets as an integrated 
whole.  Uni-President highlighted the 40 percent ceiling on 
PRC investment and lack of direct air links as major 
obstacles.  The 40 percent ceiling encourages Taiwan firms 
to channel investment through third territories or list 
their stock overseas.  End summary. 
 
2. (U) In the past, Taiwan investment in the Mainland 
generally consisted of manufacturing facilities assembling 
imported inputs into consumer goods for export to the 
United States, Europe and Japan.  Recently, more and more 
firms are building factories to produce goods for sale to 
domestic PRC consumers.  Taiwan's packaged food industry 
was a pioneer of the strategy and has been remarkably 
successful. 
 
3. (C) Today, two firms of Taiwan origin dominate the 
instant noodle and beverage markets in the PRC.  Tingyi 
Holding Corporation's Master Kong brand instant noodles is 
the top brand in the PRC with a 40 percent market share. 
In the beverage industry, Master Kong claims 45 percent of 
the ready-to-drink tea market and 18 percent of the juice 
market.  Taiwan's Uni-President Enterprises Corporation is 
one of Master Kong's strongest competitors in both 
industries.  According to Uni-President Vice President of 
Administration Wu Chung-sung, Uni-President has a 14 
percent share of the instant noodle market and 
approximately a 27 percent share of the PRC markets for 
both ready-to-drink tea and juice. 
 
Different Paths Meeting Again in Taiwan 
--------------------------------------- 
 
4. (U) Tingyi and Uni-President arrived in the PRC market 
by different paths.  Uni-President started as a food 
manufacturer in Taiwan in 1967.  Today, it also owns all of 
Taiwan's Seven-Eleven convenience stores, numbering more 
than 4,000.  It first invested in the PRC in 1992 and has 
invested US$ 1.7 billion there so far.  Tingyi, on the 
other hand, was founded by four brothers from Taiwan in 
Tianjin in 1989.  They were looking for opportunities in 
the Mainland because the family's vegetable oil business 
was struggling in Taiwan.  Tingyi is listed on the Hong 
Kong stock market and Japanese firms Asahi Breweries, 
Itochu and Sanyo Foods are major investors.  In 1998, 
Tingyi developed its first major presence in the Taiwan 
market when its parent Ting Hsin Holding Company purchased 
more than 50 percent of Wei Chuan Foods Corporation, a 
Taiwan food manufacturing and convenience store 
conglomerate.  Since then, Uni-President and Master Kong 
brands have competed for Taiwan market share as well. 
Today Uni-President has more than 45 percent of the instant 
noodle market in Taiwan compared to over 20 percent for 
Tingyi's Wei Chuan. 
 
Restricted Greater China Strategy 
--------------------------------- 
 
5. (C) Both firms are pursuing a Greater China strategy, 
seeking to build a strong presence in both the PRC and 
Taiwan before further expansion in Asia and then elsewhere. 
However, Taiwan's regulations restrict how closely they can 
integrate their operations on the two sides of the Taiwan 
Strait.  According to W. M. Chen, Public Relations Manager 
for Wei Chuan, Tingyi and Wei Chuan cannot take full 
advantage of the PRC's lower production costs because 
Taiwan still prohibits the import of instant noodles from 
the Mainland.  Nevertheless, Tingyi exports Master Kong 
noodles manufactured in the PRC to the United States, 
Japan, Europe, Australia and Southeast Asia.  Uni- 
President's Wu noted that until 2003, the Taiwan government 
 
TAIPEI 00001487  002 OF 002 
 
 
prohibited investment in the PRC in the manufacture of 
dairy products.  He complained that there had been no 
economic reason for the ban and it had prevented Uni- 
President from building on its dairy experience in Taiwan. 
 
6. (C) Wu told AIT that the two most problematic 
restrictions for Uni-President are the 40 percent limit on 
PRC investment and the lack of direct air links.  Taiwan 
firms are not permitted to invest more than 40 percent of 
their total paid-in capital in the PRC.  Wu said that Uni- 
President's investment in the PRC is very close to the 
limit.  Looking at the reported paid-in capital of Uni- 
President's affiliate enterprises in its 2004 annual 
report, it appears that the group's PRC affiliates account 
for approximately 25 percent of the group's total paid-in 
capital.  However, the firm's British Virgin Islands and 
Cayman Islands affiliates, many of which are clearly PRC 
enterprises, account for another 19 percent.  Wu complained 
that the lack of direct air links is a source of major 
inconvenience for Uni-President's more than 200 Taiwan 
employees in the PRC. 
 
Comment - Making Taiwan Firms Less Competitive 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
7. (C) Taiwan's strong position in the PRC instant noodle 
and beverage markets is a remarkable success story and an 
example of how closer cross-Strait economic ties can affect 
the daily lives and preferences of consumers on both sides 
of the Strait.  However, the experiences of Tingyi and Uni- 
President also show how Taiwan's cross-Strait restrictions, 
especially the 40 percent ceiling on investment, can put 
Taiwan firms at a disadvantage without benefiting the 
Taiwan economy.  Tingyi, which was founded in the PRC and 
listed in Hong Kong, is not subject to the ceiling but is 
able to penetrate the Taiwan market through its Taiwan 
subsidiary.  Uni-President is heavily invested in Taiwan in 
a mature industry with little room for local expansion but 
has to channel its PRC investments through third 
territories.  Taiwan firms will continue to invest and 
expand operations in the PRC, but will increasingly be 
forced to channel that investment through third territories 
or even to list in Hong Kong or elsewhere.  End comment. 
YOUNG