1949
(June) Currency reform. One New Taiwan dollar equals 40,000 old dollars.
1950
Outbreak of Korean War. US government resumes support for the Nationalist administration and restores aid.
1953
First four-year economic plan.
1957
Formosa Plastics PVC plant begins operation.
1960
Investment Incentive Statute.
1962
Value of industrial output exceeds that of agricultural output for the first time-Taiwan joins the industrial age.
1966
Establishment of the world's first export processing zone, in Kaohsiung.
1973
Prices surge in response to global oil crisis.
Launch of the Ten Major Construction Projects. Construction of nuclear power plant.
1979
Second global energy crisis slows economic growth.
1980
Establishment of Hsinchu Science- Based Industrial Park.
1986
Property prices begin to skyrocket, bubble economy in the making.
1987
Heavy industry surpasses light industry as a proportion of the economy.
1990
Stock market hits all-time high at 12,000 points.
1991
MOFA announces Taiwan's entry into APEC at the same time as the PRC and Hong Kong, under the name "Chinese Taipei."
New Taiwan dollar appreciates to 25:1 against the US$.
1995
Forex reserves reach US$100 billion.
1996
Government announces "No haste, be patient" policy, to put the brakes on mainland investments by major corporations.
1997
Weary of local environmental protests, the German firm Bayer cancels a planned investment, delivering a blow to Taiwan's APROC aspirations.
Taiwan peripherally affected by the financial turmoil which sweeps through the region from July onwards.
1998
Outbreak of domestic financial crisis, causing defaults and bankruptcies.
1999
(July) Collapse of an electricity pylon triggers islandwide blackout. After various setbacks, the NT$500 billion BOT high-speed rail project at last gets finalized.
(Sept) Taiwan hit by major earthquake measuring 7.3 on the Richter scale. Economic losses estimated at over NT$100 billion.
A Taipei graveyard for old pedicabs, which by the late 1960s had been largely supplanted by taxis. (photo by Cheng Sang-hsi)
The public queues for admission to a trade fair in Taipei New Park in the 1950s. (Central News Agency)
During the 1980s, Taiwanese manufacturers and trading firms began to develop their own brand identity. Kennex, once the world's top brand of tennis racket, was developed right here in Taiwan and has always been manufactured locally. Any tennis enthusiast over 30 years old will be very familiar with this famous brand name. (photo by Yang Wen-ching)
Prompted by huge trade surpluses and the appreciation of the NT$, a bubble economy and financial distortions dramatically undermined Taiwan's industrious work ethic. In 1991 the first legally approved batch of foreign laborers arrived for work on the Second Northern Freeway. (photo by Pao Cheng-ping)
Taiwan's stock market has been the most volatile in the world during the period from the emergence of the bubble economy to today's officially recognized "financial economy." Investors are prone to sudden shifts, but their interest in the market n ever seems to wane. (photo by Diago Chiu)