Chinese mainland's Fujian province and Taiwan, which face each other across the Taiwan Straits, have seen closer trade and economic relations this year, the Fujian government said Saturday.

During the first 10 months, there were 297 projects in Fujian utilizing Taiwan investment which totaled US$1.279 billion. That's up 53.82 percent from the same period of last year, the government said.

In the face of the fluctuating global economic situation, trade and economic cooperation between the two sides has intensified.

Taiwan is now Fujian's No. 1 import market, the fourth biggest trade partner and seventh biggest export market.

As of the end of last year, the actually utilized Taiwan investment in Fujian was US$12.683 billion. Accumulated trade volume reached US$52.71 billion.

(China Daily  December 1, 2008)