Taiwan-China trade surged 38.5% to US$39.6 B. in Jan-Aug. 2004

Taipei, Nov. 2, 2004 (CENS)--Taiwan's trade with mainland China saw a sharp annual rise of 38.5% to reach US$39.646 billion in the first eight months of this year, according to the statistics released by the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA).

The statistics showed that Taiwan's two-way trade with China accounted for 17.9% of the island's total foreign trade in the eight-month period, edging up 1.1 percentage points from the corresponding figure of last year.

In the same period, Taiwan's exports to mainland China amounted to US$29.311 billion, up 33.4% from a year earlier and accounting for 25.9% of the island's total exports. Imports from the mainland posted a whopping growth of 55.3% to hit US$10.335 billion, commanding 9.6% of Taiwan's total imports. In the first eight months, Taiwan enjoyed a surplus of US$18.976 billion in trade with the mainland, up 23.9% from the corresponding figure of 2003.

In the January-August period of 2004, Taiwan registered aggregate mainland-bound shipments of US$24.715 billion, which were mainly composed of electric machinery equipment, optical devices & related parts, machines & related parts, plastic products, steel & iron, copper, organic chemicals, synthetic fiber, texture yarn, and textile products for industrial use. The value commanded 84.3% of Taiwan's total exports to the mainland.

During the same period Taiwan's imports from the mainland were mostly electric machinery equipment & related parts, machines & related parts, optic-electrical products, steel & iron, organic chemicals, aluminum & related products, plastics & related products, lime and cement. The said items accounting for 77.9% of Taiwan's total imports from the mainland, with an aggregate value of US$8.049 billion.

In August alone, key import items from the mainland were semi-finished iron & steel products, refined copper & copper alloys, light emitting dioxide (LED), devices with liquid crystal display (LCD) panels & related parts, semiconductors & micron devices.

In the first eight months of the year, Taiwan was Chinese mainland's second largest supplier, next only to Japan and closely followed by S. Korea, the United States, Germany, Malaysia, and Singapore, which all saw a double-digit growth in exports to the mainland.