Bilateral trade between Taiwan and China in 2006 rose to 88.12 billion US dollars, up 15.4 per cent from the 2005 level on strong demand from China. The figure accounted for 20.7 per cent of Taiwan’s total external trade in 2006, compared with 20.0 per cent in 2005. Last year, Taiwan registered a trade surplus with China of 38.54 billion dollars, up 6.6 per cent from a year earlier.

Exports to the mainland in 2006 rose 12.5 per cent year-on-year to 63.33 billion dollars, and imports from there were up 23.3 per cent at 24.79 billion dollars. The 2006 shipments to mainland China accounted for 28.3 per cent of Taiwan’s total exports during the period, compared with 28.4 per cent a year earlier. Imports from China in the same period accounted for 12.2 per cent of the islands total imports, up from 11.0 per cent the year before, it added.