Macau-China trade surges 37.5 pct in September

The city saw its trade value with the Mainland soar by 37.5 per cent year-on-year last month, driven by the notable increase in the country’s exports to the Special Administrative Region, the latest official data released by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce reveals.
In September, the trade value between the two parties totalled US$470 million (MOP3.76 billion), an increase of 4.9 per cent from US$440 million in the previous month. China’s exports to the city account for more than US$450 million of the total, a year-on-year increase of 39.5 per cent, or up 5.6 per cent month-on-month.
Nevertheless, Macau’s exports to the Mainland dropped 9.8 per cent to some US$10 million in the month. On a month-on-month comparison, it represents a decline of 16.6 per cent.
For the first nine months of the year, value generated by the trade activities between the parties reached US$3.56 billion, a lift of 35.2 per cent from the same period last year. Meanwhile, China’s exports to the Special Administrative Region registered a year-on-year increase of 37.4 per cent to US$3.42 billion, accounting for 97.2 per cent of the total, while Macau’s exports to the country decreased by 2.4 per cent year-on-year to US$140 million.
The official data also indicated that Chinese authorities had approved 24 investment projects of local firms last month, involving capital used of some US$50 million, decreasing by 44.2 per cent and 16.9 per cent year-on-year, respectively.
However, the number of local investment projects approved by the Mainland authorities for the first nine months of the year jumped 15 per cent year-on-year to 106. The actual capital used for these projects soared 75.6 per cent year-on-year to US$750 million.
Cumulatively, the Chinese authorities have given the green light to some 14,138 investment projects by Macau firms, of which the capital used totalled US$12.65 billion as at the end of September. But the amount only accounted for 0.8 per cent of the total foreign investment that the country has received.
On the other hand, Mainland companies had been contracted a total of 25 projects in the Special Administrative Region for the first nine months of the year, worth US$1.37 billion, with sales reaching US$820 million.
Ministry data also indicated a total of 117,902 Chinese workers were working in the territory as at the end of last month.