Bilateral Taiwan-China trade in the first eight months of this year totaled US$39.64 billion, up by 38.5 percent from a year ago, according to statistics compiled by the Bureau of Foreign Trade.
The cross-strait trade accounts for 17.9 percent of overall foreign trade for the January-August period, the bureau said. During the eight-month period, exports to China hit US$29.3 billion, or 25.9 percent of total outbound shipments -- a 1.7 percentage point growth over the year-earlier level.
Chinese exports to Taiwan stood at US$10.3 billion, making up 9.6 percent of total inbound shipments -- a 1.3 percent increase year-on-year.
Taiwan enjoyed a surplus of US$19 billion in trade with China, up by 23.9 percent compared to the year-earlier mark.
Major items among exports to China (including Hong Kong) are electrical engineering equipment and parts, opto-electronics, steel, chemicals and man-made fibers, while prime imports are cement, aluminum, chemicals, electrical engineering facilities and parts and machinery equipment.
Citing statistics from Chinese customs authorities, Japan, Taiwan and South Korea were China's top trading partners in the January-
August period. The US was fourth, followed by Germany, Malaysia, Singapore, Russia, Hong Kong and Thailand. Except for imports from Hong Kong, which grew by 2.2 percent, those from other countries all had double-digit expansion.
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