Mainland-Taiwan trade drops in first quarter

Trade between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan fell in the first quarter of this year by 11.5 percent year on year, said the Ministry of Commerce on Thursday.

From January to March, exports from the mainland to Taiwan totaled 9.15 billion U.S. dollars, a year-on-year drop of 11.2 percent, while imports from Taiwan stood at 28.35 billion dollars, down 11.7 percent, according to a ministry press release.

Taiwan is the mainland's seventh largest trade partner.

In the first three months of this year, actual investment from Taiwan to the mainland increased 24.5 percent year on year to 600 million dollars. The figure reached 1.09 billion dollars if investment via a third location such as the British Virgin Islands was included.