On April 2, 2002 the fires were banked and the machinery turned off at the Hua-lien sugar refinery in Hualien's Kuangfu Township. The sugar industry, which had represented Taiwan's No. 1 export product, could no longer cover costs due to the high price of labor, and after free competition was introduced into the market, the Taiwan Sugar Corporation (TaiSugar) had no choice but to reinvent itself.
2002 年 4 月 2 日，位於花蓮縣光復鄉的花蓮糖廠熄爐停機，曾經作為我國外銷產品第一名的糖業，在工資高昂不敷成本，加上糖業自由化競爭之後，台糖公司也不得不轉型。