Increased economic activity between the mainland and Taiwan is the result of "pure market activity", analysts say.
They made the observation after South Korean newspaper Chosun Iibo said on Monday that South Korean companies had suffered a "hard and severe blow" because of the so-called "Chaiwan economy (China+Taiwan)", forming out of cooperation between Taiwan tech companies and mainland manufacturers.
Bloomberg reported on Tuesday that mainland TV makers were about to buy $4.4 billion of flat-panel displays and other components from Taiwan, double what was expected.
The mainland also purchased US$2 billion of Taiwan-made LCD panels in December, boosting the industry on the island, which had suffered from a lack of orders amid the economic recession.
Zhang Guanhua, deputy director of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences'institute of Taiwan studies, said that with cross-Straits economic relations warming since last year, it was natural for the mainland to buy more of Taiwan's high-quality and comparatively cheap products.
"Taiwanand the mainland have respective economic advantages, and building a closer economic partnership brings benefits to both," he said.
While the closer relationship between the mainland and Taiwan has led to more orders for Taiwan's products, countries including the ROK and Japan were not being excluded, he said.
Zhang also took exception to the term "Chaiwan", saying it wrongly puts China and Taiwan side-by-side, when Taiwan is part of China.
Li Jiaquan, former director of the Institute of Taiwan Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the term "Chaiwan" is also not proper because the mainland andTaiwanhave not been integrated as a single economic body.
"The integration of the economies of the mainland and Taiwan is a long-term goal, but now we would be better to call it a closer economic partnership," he said.
South Korea's LCD panel makers have experienced strong sales in the past on the Chinese mainland. South Korean firms had 46.2 percent of the market share last year while Taiwan firms followed with 35 percent. This year, South Korean firms' market share fell to 29.7 percent in the first quarter whileTaiwan's grew to 56.5 percent.
"The pressure brought by the integration of the cross-Straits economy is horrible," Chosun cited a senior South Korean IT insider as saying.
But Zhang said mainland TV makers including Hisense, Skyworth and TCL were selecting Taiwan panels after cross-Straits ties improved simply because the Taiwan products were high-quality and inexpensive.
