The total cross-Strait trade volume in the January-August period amounted to $62.29 billion, down 33.1 percent from the same period last year, according to the latest statistics released by the Ministry of Commerce, Xinhuanet reported.

Exports from the Chinese mainland to Taiwan totaled $11.85 billion, down 34.5 percent, while imports reached $50.44 billion, a decrease of 32.8 percentage points from a year earlier, the report said.

In the first eight months of this year, the Chinese mainland had approved 1,523 Taiwan investment projects, worth $1.14 billion, down 12.8 percent from a year ago.