Bustling Taipei-style shopping streets, majestic temples to the island's deities and thriving factories dot the eastern Chinese city of Kunshan, for years a hub for Taiwanese businesses.

But now those firms are feeling the strain from cross-Strait tensions that have stoked safety fears among companies.

Taiwanese entrepreneurs -- known as "Taishang" in Mandarin -- poured billions into mainland China since ties began improving in the 1990s, playing an important role in its rise to become the world's second-largest economy.

But their numbers have dwindled in recent years, with the number of Taiwanese working in China dropping from 409,000 in 2009 to 177,000 in 2022, according to estimates provided to AFP by the Straits Exchange Foundation, an unofficial intermediary between Taipei and Beijing.

China's economic slowdown and mounting trade tensions with Washington are partially responsible, the organisation says.

But James Lee, a 78-year-old Taiwanese industrialist who was forced to close his cable and electrical outlet factory in southern Guangdong province in 2022, blames "politics".

"You have to be very careful when you speak," Lee told AFP.

"We Taiwanese businessmen are afraid."

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