(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-12-30 16:31

BEIJING -- By the end of November, cumulative total  indirect cross-strait trade had exceeded $700 billion since the Chinese mainland's opening-up in the late 1970s, marking a new era of deeper and wider economic cooperation across the Taiwan Strait.

Statistics from the mainland show that for January-November 2007, the indirect trade between the mainland and Taiwan reached $113 billion, up 14.9 percent year-on-year.

"The mainland has become the largest export market and largest contributor to the favorable balance of trade for Taiwan," said Ye Kedong, deputy director of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council.

In the first 11 months of this year, 2,993 Taiwan-funded projects, with an actually utilized investment of $1.43 billion, were approved by the mainland. By the end of November, the mainland had drawn some $45.33 billion of cumulative direct investments from Taiwan.

Statistics from the Taiwan authorities show that, from this January to October, Taiwan traders invested a record $7.66 billion in the mainland, and the full-year figure was expected to reach $10 billion. This compares with a cumulative amount of almost $70 billion in the past 20 years, indicating a recent rise in interest from Taiwan.

Recently, the number of applications from Taiwan traders to invest on the mainland doubled, causing a backlog of work among the officials with the local investment approval committee.

Taiwan merchants showed more interest in the comparatively undeveloped central and western areas in 2007. Western provinces and municipalities, including Guangxi, Guizhou and Chongqing, attracted far more investment from Taiwan than before.

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