The Chinese mainland saw its trade with Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan maintain a strong momentum in the first eight months of the year, according to the Ministry of Commerce.

The mainland's exports to Hong Kong in the January-August period surged 23.1 percent from a year ago to US$115.4 billion, while imports rose 15.3 percent to US$7.99 billion.

Hong Kong had invested an accumulative US$293.9 billion on the mainland by the end of August, taking a 40.4-percent share in the total investment the mainland had received from overseas since 1978.

Trade across the Taiwan Straits rose 13 percent to US$77.5 billion in the first eight months, with the mainland's exports up 14.4 percent to US$15.2 billion and imports up 12.6 percent to US$62.4 billion.

Taiwan remained the fifth largest investor on the mainland, with its investment adding up to US$44.8 billion by the end of August.

But ministry statistics show that the number of Taiwan-invested projects on the mainland decreased 5.5 percent to 2,216 in the first eight months, with direct investment shrinking 29.3 percent to US$950 million.

The mainland's exports to Macao reached US$1.7 billion in the eight months, up 21.9 percent, while its imports declined 3.5 percent to US$180 million.

(Xinhua News Agency October 8, 2007)