Experts said recent tax cuts by the central government on cross-strait shipping would not significantly hurt Hong Kong shipping, despite a significant jump in Taiwan-mainland shipping since the cuts took effect, according to the South China Morning Post.
With effect from December 15 last year, the Ministry of Finance in Beijing waived business taxes and corporate income taxes on Taiwan shipping firms' revenues obtained from the mainland.
Container throughput in Kaohsiung, Taiwan's biggest port, rose seven per cent in December to 653,000 TEUs from the previous month, after an 18.6 per cent drop in November from October, according to official statistics from Taiwan.
The container throughput of Taiwan's ports, including Kaohsiung, was notably higher in the last two weeks of December than the first two weeks.
"The big rise in shipping volume at Kaohsiung in the last two weeks of December may have been partly driven by the tax cuts," said Charles de Trenck, an analyst with Transport Trackers, a Hong Kong-based transport consultancy.
Direct cross-strait shipping reduced costs by 15 to 30 per cent and cut transit times, the Kaohsiung Harbour Bureau said.
Nonetheless, the tax cuts would have relatively little impact on Hong Kong shipping, de Trenck said.
The Hong Kong-mainland-Taiwan trade was an important part of Hong Kong shipping about 10 years ago, but it has shrunk over the years, he said.
Over the past five to seven years, Hong Kong had lost about five per cent of its container trade to the Taiwan-China shipping trade, he estimated.
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