TAIPEI - TOP negotiators from rivals Taiwan and China will meet again this week to discuss issues facing island investors who see China as an important but increasingly difficult place to do business amid the global economic crisis.

Taiwan negotiator P.K. Chiang will visit four Chinese cities from Wednesday to see counterpart China Chen Yunlin and scores of Taiwan investors, Mr Chiang's office said on Tuesday.

China has claimed sovereignty over Taiwan since 1949, when Mao Zedong's Communists won the Chinese civil war and Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalists (KMT) fled to the island. Beijing has vowed to bring Taiwan under its rule, by force if necessary.

But thousands of Taiwan investors have poured about US$100 billion (S$147 billion) into China, where they are lured by a common language and culture as well as relatively low labour costs.

Since China-friendly Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou took office in May on pledges to ease tension, the two negotiators have met twice to sign landmark trade and transit deals.

Investors and some of the approximately 750,000 other Taiwan business people stationed in China say that shaky investment guarantees, rising labour costs and personal safety in parts of China make their work increasingly tough.

Mr Chiang, who will travel to China for four days, and his counterpart will lead investor forums in the cities of Guangzhou and Nanjing to discuss financing channels and possible tax cuts, Taiwan enterprise association leaders in southern China said.

'It's got harder to operate a businesses here,' said Samuel Kuo, former head of the Taiwan investor association in Dongguan, a city near Guangzhou. 'The visits aren't to sign agreements, but to understand our situation.' -- REUTERS