May 7 (China Knowledge) - Trade between mainland China and Taiwan decreased 18.2% year on year to US$42.13 billion in the first quarter of this year, accounting for 4.4% of the mainland's total foreign trade for the same period, according to statistics released by the Ministry of Commerce.
From Jan to Mar, the mainland's exports to Taiwan dropped 7.8% year on year to US$8.97 billion, while its imports from the island were at US$33.16 billion, down 20.6% compared with the previous year.
In the month of Mar 2014, trade between the two sides went up 37.7% from a month earlier to US$15.42 billion. The mainland's exports to Taiwan were US$3.36 billion in the month, up 60% month on month, and its imports from the island increased 32.5% from Feb to US$12.06 billion.
The mainland government approved a total of 427 Taiwan business funded projects in the first three months, 3.4% less than that in the same period of 2013. The figure included 193 approved in Mar, up 112.1% month on month.
As of the end of Mar, the mainland government had approved a total of 90,445 projects with investments from Taiwan, and the utilized investment from the island had amounted to US$59.75 billion, account for 4.2% of the country's total utilized foreign direct investment.
- AsiaToday.com