Taiwan Salt Industrial Corporation (TaiYen), a large business that presently monopolizes the salt producing industry in Taiwan, plans to open its first franchised store in Kunshan, east China's Jiangsu province in spring 2010 to explore the markets in Jiangsu province.

Kunshan is a satellite city in the greater Suzhou region that is administratively at the county-level in southeast Jiangsu, China, just outside Shanghai. It currently ranks as the most economically successful county-level administration in China. In 2008 the GDP totalled 150 billion yuan (US$22 billion), an increase of 15% from 2007. The GDP per capita reached 120,882 yuan (US$17,687).

TaiYen will also set up a wholly-owned retailer in Xiamen, Fujian province to distribute its major lines as facial masks, food-cleansing detergents by the end of 2010.

TaiYen posted a 6.33% year-on-year decline in cumulative sales in the first three quarters of this year, offset by growing sales since the beginning of the fourth quarter. The company noted its October sales grew 13.4% annually to reach about US$5.59 million.

H.Y. Hung, chairman of TaiYen, said his company will see growing sales in the fourth quarter of this year from the preceding quarter driven by the increased sales from the core business and biotechnology products.

TaiYen posted $6.52 million in after-tax earnings in the first three quarters of this year. The Company just opened five franchised stores: one each in Taoyuan County, Hsinchu City, Tainan City, and two in Kaohsiung City in a bid to boost domestic sales.

TaiYen has 131 franchised stores in Taiwan island, which will be raised to 200 by the end of 2010.

Taiwan Salt Industrial Corporation aims to promote its product and widen its operations by providing the public a refined life style based on healthy culture with Dietary Salt, Health Bath Salt and Seaweed Soap etc.

Further product diversification and internationalization efforts will couple with marketing drives to increase the market share of TSIC new products

By Xie Fang