HK-mainland trade slumps in H1

The Chinese mainland's trade with Hong Kong totaled 160.35 billion U.S. dollars in the first half of 2014, down 22.4 percent year on year, the Ministry of Commerce announced on Wednesday.

The figure accounted for 7.9 percent of the mainland's total overseas trade in the first half, the ministry's figures show.

The mainland's exports to Hong Kong hit 154.76 billion U.S. dollars, a sharp decrease of 22.1 percent year on year, while the mainland's imports from the region dropped 29.5 percent to 5.59 billion U.S. dollars.

In June, trade between the mainland and Hong Kong stood at 28.3 billion U.S. dollars, down 0.9 percent from May.

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

The mainland approved 5,505 Hong Kong-invested projects from January to June in 2013, with the actual use of Hong Kong capital reaching 41.43 billion U.S. dollars, up 12.6 percent from the same period of last year.