Mainland-HK trade drops 7.1% in first 11 months

BEIJING - The Chinese mainland's trade with Hong Kong totaled $274 billion in the first 11 months of 2016, down 7.1 percent year on year, according to the Ministry of Commerce.

The value accounted for 8.3 percent of the mainland's total overseas trade in the January-November period.

Mainland exports to Hong Kong hit $258 billion, a decrease of 9.3 percent year on year, while the mainland's imports from the region saw an increase of 51.9 percent to $16.1 billion.

Hong Kong is the mainland's fourth-largest trading partner and third-largest export market, according to the ministry.

The mainland approved 11,309 Hong Kong-invested projects from January to November, with the actual use of Hong Kong capital reaching $72.8 billion, down 6.8 percent from the same period of last year.

By the end of November, the mainland had approved 397,522 Hong Kong-invested projects, with the actual use of Hong Kong capital reaching $906 billion, accounting for 51.6 percent of the mainland's actual use of overseas capital.