Taiwan was once dubbed as “kingdom of plastics” because it produced a wide variety of plastic products used for different purposes and industries, such as medical equipment, everyday items, and high tech goods. During the 1970s and 1990s, Taiwan was known as “kingdom of plastic shoes” for it had specialized in producing high quality plastic leather and plastic soles with a sufficient supply of high quality manpower. In 1976, export volume of shoes reached a record high of 375 million pairs. During the best years of Taiwan’s shoe making industry, one in every five people in the world was wearing Taiwanese-made shoes; because of the impressive bulky export volume, many countries around the world began to impose limitations on the import of shoes from Taiwan.

＊Plastic shoes and their soles are mainly made from PVC and PU leather. The production of PVC also contributed to the success of Formosa Plastics as a giant in petrochemicals.