Residential and commercial property transactions rose substantially in Taiwan in the first quarter because of greater transparency in the market, the government said yesterday.

Bank of Taiwan said yesterday that it is planning to send a second batch of NT$25 million (U$833,333) in cash to China under the currency clearing mechanism set up across the Taiwan Strait.

Taiwan's economy may not be able to grow 3 percent in 2013 after the country reported much worse-than-expected gross domestic product (GDP) growth for the first quarter of the year, an economist said yesterday.

Taiwanese motor and home appliance provider Teco Electric & Machinery Co. will list 300 million Chinese yuan (US$48.4 million) in corporate bonds on the local over-the-counter (OTC) market on May 20, financial adviser HSBC Taiwan said yesterday.

Taiwan and New Zealand are closing in on a free trade deal, with substantive talks possibly being completed in June, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said Friday.

Taiwan's HTC Corp. remained one of the world's top 10 smartphone makers in the first quarter despite sliding sales figures, according to local market research firm Digitimes Research.

Although Hon Hai Precision (鴻海精密) has made a lot of progress in working conditions at its Chinese factories, the company still faces a challenge in trying to meet a July 1 deadline for cutting working hours.

Shares in Taiwan pulled back Friday from the gains of the previous session as the market encountered stiff technical resistance ahead of 8,400 points, dealers said.

TECO Electric and Machinery (TECO,東元電機) is set to issue Taiwan's second renminbi-denominated bond from corporate issuer GreTai (over the counter market, 櫃買中心) next Monday with the help of HSBC Taipei.

Shares of Shin Kong Financial Holding Co. moved higher Friday morning after it reported an improvement in its bottom line for the first quarter of this year, dealers said.