BOFIT Viikkokatsaus / BOFIT Weekly Review 2016/03
Tsai and the DPP have won the right to preside over Taiwan in tough economic times. GDP contracts, and is still below its level at the onset of the 2008 financial crisis. And it is likely that economic conditions will further deteriorate if tensions between mainland China and Taiwan worsen significantly. Mainland China is a major market for Taiwan’s export-driven economy. About 40 % of Taiwanese goods exports go to China (including Hong Kong), Taiwanese firms have vast investments in mainland China and tourism of mainland Chinese has exploded in recent years, bringing significant amounts of money to the island.