Business
China, Taiwan trade hits $100 bn in 2006 http://www.ndtvprofit.com/homepage/storybusinessnew.asp?template=&whichstory=n&id=35839
Associated Press
Wednesday, January 17, 2007 (Beijing):
China's annual trade with Taiwan reached a record $100 billion last year, a state news agency said Wednesday, highlighting thriving business ties despite their lack of political relations.
"Tourism between the two is also booming. Taiwanese made more than 4.4 million visits to the mainland, while more than 200,000 mainland Chinese visited Taiwan," the Xinhua News Agency said, citing a government spokesman.
Commercial ties between China and Taiwan, which split in 1949 amid civil war, are thriving despite a lack of relations between their governments and almost no direct travel links.
Taiwanese companies have invested more than $100 billion on the mainland since the early 1990s, setting up factories to produce goods ranging from computer chips to umbrellas.
The report did not give a breakdown of imports and exports, but Taiwanese figures show the island runs a substantial surplus with the mainland.