The survey of 14,664 Taiwanese by the 104 Job Bank, the largest online recruiting service on the island, showed that apart from the 17.2 percent who rejected the idea of getting a job on the mainland outright, other Taiwanese do not mind working there, the Sunday Morning Post reported.

Some 18.1 percent of respondents are actively seeking mainland jobs, the English newspaper said. In late January, 1,000 Taiwanese, mostly master degree holders, came to Hong Kong for jobs available at 75 Chinese mainland companies, the newspaper said.

Ellen Huang, who gave up her well-paid job at a Taiwanese high-tech company to work in Shanghai, was quoted as saying, "The most important thing is I am here. Following China's entry to the World Trade Organization, there are plenty of opportunities here."

Huang's salary in Shanghai is about the same as it was in Taiwan but she has had to adapt to the new environment. Huang is one of thousands of Taiwanese taking advantage of the market opening in the mainland, the newspaper said.

"Heading west," a term used on the island to refer to going to the mainland, is no longer a trend limited to Taiwanese firms investing on the mainland. It has become a trend for Taiwanese professionals to start new careers in the mainland, the newspaper said.

(China Daily March 25, 2002)