Mainland's investment in Taiwan tops $700 million

Investment in Taiwan from the Chinese mainland has reached 722 million U.S. dollars since the island opened to mainland investors on June 30, 2009.

As of Monday, mainland authorities have approved 133 cases of mainland-invested enterprises and projects to Taiwan, according to Yang Yi, spokesman for the State Council's Taiwan Affairs Office, at a regular press conference on Wednesday.

Yang was quoting statistics from the Ministry of Commerce.

In the first nine months of 2012, the mainland approved 1,587 investment projects involving 2.16 billion dollars, from Taiwan to the mainland, Yang said.

During that period, trade volume between the mainland and Taiwan reached 121.21 billion dollars, registering a 0.2 percent increase year-on-year, according to the spokesman.

The value of imports from Taiwan was 95.46 billion dollars and the exports to the island was 25.75 billion dollars, Yang said.

The spokesman also clarified a recent rumor, which claimed that food and beverage manufacturer Master Kong was a Japanese enterprise. He said it was a Taiwan-based brand.

However, the spokesman stressed that the Hong Kong-listed company has equity investments from various parties.

Earlier rumors claiming that Master Kong was a Japanese brand spread amid the row between China and Japan over the Diaoyu Islands.