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BEIJING, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- A mainland spokesperson said Wednesday that the mainland would bring up new policies to promote Taiwanese investment and boost cross-Strait cooperation in 2017.
"The mainland is still Taiwan's largest trade partner and the biggest source of exports and trade surplus," said Ma Xiaoguang, with the State Council's Taiwan Affairs Office, at a press conference.
"The mainland is the best choice for Taiwanese industrial and commercial circles to develop business, and no force will stop or weaken the promising future of the win-win situation of cross-Strait economic cooperation," added Ma.
In the first 11 months of 2016, the mainland approved 3,072 Taiwan-funded projects, up 19.58 percent year on year, with the use of Taiwanese capital reaching 1.69 billion U.S. dollars, up 17 percent, according to the latest Ministry of Commerce figures.
Trade volume between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan reached 161.38 billion U.S. dollars from January to November last year, down 4.9 percent year on year.
At the press conference, Ma was asked about a media report that several thousand Taiwanese enterprises had left the city of Dongguan in southern China's Guangdong Province.
Ma said that the report did not accord with the facts. By the end of November 2016, a total of 3,438 Taiwanese enterprises were under operation in Dongguan, and most were manufacturing companies with advanced technology.
In recent years, investment from Taiwanese enterprises continued to grow. In 2016, a total of 93 projects were approved in the city, with Taiwanese capital reaching 287 million U.S. dollars.
