Taipei  - China-based Taiwanese firms have beeb hit hard by the global financial turmoil with those operating in the Chinese southern city of Dongguan suffering the worst, a report said Sunday.

Due to slumping exports resulting from the global downturn and financial turmoil, two-thirds of Taiwanese textile companies have suffered huge losses, while close to 1,000 footwear firms have shut down, the United Evening News said in a report.

Dongguan is a major base of Taiwanese investments in traditional industries, including textiles, footwear and umbrellas.

The grim scenario prompted Kao Koong-lian, vice chairman of the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF), to lead a group to Dongguan on Thursday for a three-day visit to study the situation there.

The paper quoted an unidentified SEF source as saying that Kao discussed with the Dongguan government ways to help Taiwanese investors.

It said the Dongguan government decided to offer a 4 billion Taiwan dollar (120.4 million US dollars) soft-loan program to help all companies, including those from Taiwan, which urgently need money to tide them over.

SEF on Sunday confirmed that Kao led a group to visit Dongguan and the nearby border city of Shenzhen and met with Taiwanese businessmen there, but declined to comment on the soft-loan program. (dpa)