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Taiwan announced a conditional opening for its LCD makers to build factories in China on 20 February 2010. That policy change was not an approval of any individual factory: AU Optronics applied in March and received approval for its planned Kunshan fab in December, subject to safeguards for Taiwan investment, jobs and technology.
What changed in February 2010?
Taiwan lifted its ban on building thin-film-transistor LCD and semiconductor fabs in China, opening the door for Taiwanese panel makers to invest in China in specified circumstances. The contemporaneous IEEE Spectrum report described the LCD opening as covering generation-6-and-higher fabs, with a cap of three fabs and conditions intended to keep the newest core technologies in Taiwan while requiring new investment at home.
The announcement changed the rules for considering projects; it did not approve a particular company or factory. That distinction matters: AU Optronics (AUO) filed the first LCD-fab application after the opening, and its proposal was reviewed and approved separately later that year.
When did AUO’s Kunshan fab get approved?
- 20 February 2010: Taiwan announced the conditional policy opening, as reported by IEEE Spectrum.
- 15 March 2010: AUO submitted an application to build a proposed 7.5-generation plant in eastern China, becoming the first Taiwanese LCD maker to apply under the change, according to IEEE Spectrum.
- December 2010: The MOEA Investment Commission approved AUO’s planned US$3 billion Kunshan fab. The Taipei Times report says the commission sought further information before approval and that AUO renewed commitments to investment in Taiwan.
The approval was specific to AUO’s proposal, not blanket permission for every Taiwanese panel maker. In its December report, the Taipei Times said Chimei Innolux had not yet filed a China investment plan.
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What safeguards were attached to China fab investment?
The policy’s central bargain was access to Chinese production under conditions designed to protect Taiwan’s industrial base. The MOEA’s published review rules for LCD-panel investment applications list considerations including the applicant’s status as a Taiwan LCD-panel manufacturer, control of the investment, Taiwan-side investment, and investment and research and development in next-generation fabs.
- Fab count and generation: The published rules specify a maximum of three approved generation-6-or-higher fabs in China. The technology should be equivalent to or behind the highest-generation panel fab already established by the same company in Taiwan.
- Technology and economic contribution: The rules address reasonable compensation or royalties when a China operation uses technology belonging to its Taiwan parent, along with the investment’s contribution to Taiwan’s economy and promotion of Taiwan suppliers.
- Employment: The rules address avoiding layoffs in Taiwan as a result of the China investment. In AUO’s 2010 approval, the Taipei Times reported that the company promised not to lay off Taiwan staff.
- Investment at home: AUO renewed its Taiwan investment commitments after the commission sought more information. The 2010 report quoted MOEA Vice Minister Hwang Jung-chiou as saying: “The major concern earlier was that AUO wasn’t consistent in its commitment to Taiwanese investment.”
These safeguards should not be presented as a definitive statement of current law. The specialized LCD rules page identifies its latest amendment as 9 September 2015. A separate MOEA page on general review principles for investment or technical cooperation in mainland China records a revision on 31 July 2024, but does not settle whether the specialized LCD rules remain operative unchanged or how they interact with later principles.
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What AUO planned to build—and what it promised in Taiwan
The figures reported in 2010 describe plans and commitments, not independently verified final spending or factory output. IEEE Spectrum reported an initial spend of US$1.2 billion within a projected total investment of about US$3 billion, with initial production planned at 60,000 glass substrates per month and eventual capacity above 90,000 per month. The December Taipei Times account likewise described the approved Kunshan proposal as a planned US$3 billion, 7.5-generation fab.
IEEE Spectrum described a generation-7.5 glass substrate as measuring 1,950 × 2,250 millimeters. In the report’s technical example, that sheet could be cut into eight 42-inch panels, six 46-inch panels or three 55-inch panels. These are illustrations of planned fab capability, not evidence of the plant’s eventual production mix.
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To secure approval, AUO also described major investment commitments in Taiwan. The Taipei Times reported commitments of NT$400 billion (US$13.4 billion) in Taiwan projects by 2022 and a further NT$150 billion for other projects. The Ministry estimated those stated projects would create 5,000 jobs over the next 10 years; that was a projection at the time, not a verified jobs outcome.
Why did Taiwan change course?
Taiwanese display makers faced pressure to produce closer to a large and growing Chinese television market. IEEE Spectrum’s 2010 coverage cited Chinese demand for large TVs as a reason local production appealed to foreign manufacturers, and reported that Samsung and LG were pursuing China factories. It also described Sharp as having discussed supplying used equipment and helping establish a production line; those were reported plans, not proof that every proposal became operational as described.
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Local production could bring Taiwanese companies closer to customers and reduce logistics costs, while helping them compete with rivals manufacturing in China. But the same move raised concerns about transferring technology, diverting investment and jobs from Taiwan, and strengthening future competitors. Taiwan’s policy tried to balance those aims by allowing investment while constraining fab generations and requiring commitments on Taiwan-side activity.
The competitive risk was visible in contemporaneous forecasts, too. IEEE Spectrum attributed to Taipei-based Topology Research Institute the view that Taiwan’s 7.5-generation fabs could face serious competition from Chinese 8.5-generation fabs entering mass production in late 2011. That was an analyst forecast published in 2010, not a result established by the approval story.
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What the decision did—and did not—mean
Taiwan’s 2010 move was a conditional policy opening, followed by an individual approval for AUO’s proposed Kunshan fab. It did not mean that all LCD makers could freely move their newest production to China, that every company immediately applied, or that the investment and job commitments reported at the time were completed outcomes. The technology-generation limits and Taiwan-side commitments were the core of the arrangement.
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