A person familiar with the situation said earlier the company plans to raise up to US$300 million in the IPO.

Taiwan's dollar and stocks advanced as the island's ruling party won key local elections, prompting speculation President Ma Ying-jeou will extend pro- China policies that boosted investment.

TV panel chipmaker MStar Semiconductor plans to raise up to US$300 million in an IPO ahead of a listing in Taiwan slated for December, according to a person familiar with the deal.

Elpida will slash production at its Hiroshima site and at the plant of Taiwanese subsidiary Rexchip Electronics and will consider postponing the construction of a plant in Taiwan, the Nikkei reported.

There may be 14 foreign firms approved to set up R&D centers in Taiwan this year, including those to be publicized by Elpida and Corning soon, according to the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA).

In Taiwan, where a problem with stray dogs has reached epic proportions, rescue workers have turned to smartphones to help them do their jobs. Besides collecting video testimony, they are used to show dogs to potential adopters or to let donors see how their money is being put to use.

One report, based on interviews with over 1,700 workers by 20 universities in Hong Kong, China and Taiwan, criticized Hon Hai for long working hours, a "militaristic" work culture and mass employment of low-wage vocational college students and interns on production lines to cut costs

The global dominance of South Korean chipmakers is unlikely to be toppled anytime soon, even as Japanese and Taiwanese rivals consider forging stronger ties, according to a ratings agency. "In the medium term, Elpida's and Taiwanese chipmakers' increased competitiveness is unlikely to unseat the Korean's established advantages in technology and scale..."

Powerchip Technology, ProMOS Technologies and Winbond Electronics are among possible targets, Elpida President Yukio Sakamoto said in interviews this week.

Rudolph Technologies has received an order for its multiple PrecisionWoRx VX4 probe card test and analysis systems from a customer in Taiwan to facilitate capacity expansion.

A trade pact between China and Taiwan, widely seen as the most significant agreement since civil war divided them in 1949, has come into effect.

Bank of China and Bank of Communications have applied to become the first mainland China banks to set up representative offices in Taiwan, according to the island's Financial Supervisory Commission.

Now it's official. Taiwan's legislature on late Tuesday night approved the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement, the landmark trade deal between China and Taiwan.

The previous estimates, released in August 2008, predicted zero growth in 2026, but since then the birth rate recorded an even sharper decline.

The mid-year edition of the SEMI Capital Equipment Forecast predicts that sales of global semiconductor equipment are growing in all regions in 2010. Taiwan is again, projected to be the largest market with US$9.18 billion.

The announcement comes weeks after Taiwan signed a major trade deal with China - the first since the two split at the end of the civil war in 1949.

Several lawmakers were injured on July 7 as rival politicians clashed on the first day of a parliamentary debate on a controversial new trade pact with China.

China and Taiwan signed a tariff-slashing trade pact Tuesday that boosts economic ties and further eases political tensions six decades after the rivals split amid civil war. Beijing hopes the deal, signed live on on state television, can lead to political accommodation. Taiwan is looking for the tighter economic links to keep the island from being marginalized as China's global clout grows.

But the opposition certainly has reason to be suspicious. While Taiwanese negotiators did not get everything they asked for - PVC and polyethylene, important Taiwanese exports, were left out after months of wrangling.

Taiwan and China on June 14 launched a new flight between Taipei and Shanghai that will cut the time travellers spend on their journey, according to officials. Three airlines from Taiwan and one from China will service the route, which links Sungshan airport, in downtown Taipei, and Hongqiao airport in Shanghai.

The company will "definitely go into" China with a Taiwanese chipmaker by as early as 2012 and seek support from the China government, said Elpida's president Yukio Sakamoto in an interview. It is also accelerating plans to add a second manufacturing plant at Rexchip Electronics.

Protesters in Taiwan's capital scuffled with police on June 3 and threw chairs at an official building where discussions were under way on a proposal for a referendum on a planned trade pact with China. The administration of President Ma Ying-jeou has been pushing for the pact, known as the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement, saying it will boost growth and employment.

Civil aviation regulators from Taiwan and China have agreed to add 28 direct passenger flights a week between Taipei's Songshan Airport and Shanghai's Hongqiao International Airport in order to meet increasing demand for cross-straits flights, according to Taiwan's Civil Aeronautics Administration. The new flights will begin operating before June 14.

The bill that could raise the admissions bar locally and send Taiwan students to offshore schools has finally received approval in parliament, after legislators grabbed one another's arms and necks.

President Ma Ying-jeou argued Taiwan had no option but to sign the pact with China. Tsai Ing-wen, leader of the opposition DPP, insisted Taiwan would do better to negotiate with China slowly through existing WTO structures. Tsai also accused Ma of upsetting the regional balance of power, alarming Japan and South Korea...

In an interview with AFP, Taiwan president Ma Ying-jeou said the framework agreement was just a first step, but that he was confident it would lead to deeper trade agreements with China and continue to lower tensions between the former enemies.

"If the NDRC tells me I have to move to China or I'll close the China market to you, then I'll consider that," said TSMC chairman and CEO Morris Chang. NDRC refers to the National Development and Reform Commission, China's powerful economic planning agency.

Several scholars, rights activists and journalists working on China and Taiwan issues have reported that their Yahoo e-mail accounts have been hacked into, in the latest internet incident involving China since Google's decision to stop censoring its Chinese site.

Taiwan's central bank has said its easy monetary policy is over after it left key rates unchanged for the fifth consecutive quarter to support the island's still-fragile economic recovery.

In recent years, many top universities in Taiwan have seen lecturers leave for China, attracted by the vibrant development there and more attractive packages. And Hong Kong universities are eyeing not just Taiwanese students, but also lecturers.

Taiwan's high court has warned the former head of United Microelectronics Corp. he risks being arrested after shouting at the judges and walking out of his trial for illegal investment.

An earthquake in southern Taiwan has disrupted power supplies in the capital, Taipei and caused the high speed rail service to be suspended.

Elpida Memory has decided not to receive capital from a Taiwanese company because businesses are improving, the Yomiuri newspaper reported, citing an interview with President Yukio Sakamoto.

Elpida Memory aims to list subsidiary Rexchip Electronics on the Taiwan stock exchange in its fiscal 2010, according to a person familiar with the matter. Although the company had said it was considering listing Rexchip, it had yet to decide on concrete plans.

Formosa Plastics Group, one of Taiwan's largest industrial conglomerates, has announed it plans a stainless steel plant in Vietnam, with local media citing a budget of over US$3 billion.

The emergence of the world economy from the worst slump since World War II spurred businesses in Taiwan, where exports equal half of GDP, to boost production and hire more workers.

"Foreign firms have expressed a willingness to increase investment or make new investments in Taiwan" once the island signs the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement with China to remove bilateral tariffs, Ma told reporters at a news briefing to promote the pact. He didn't make any forecasts about the potential value of such investments.