BEIJING, Sept. 19 (Xinhua) -- Trade between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan jumped to 77.54 billion U.S. dollars in the first eight months, up 13 percent from the same period of 2006, according the Ministry of Commerce.

Mainland exports to Taiwan rose 14.4 percent to 15.18 billion U.S. dollars and imports from Taiwan climbed 12.6 percent to 62.36 billion dollars, the ministry said.

The two-way trade was likely to exceed 110 billion dollars this year, Vice Commerce Minister Jiang Zengwei told an investment forum in southeastern coastal city of Xiamen, on Sep. 7.

The trade volume hit 107.84 billion U.S. dollars last year when it broke the 100 billion dollar mark for the first time.

The mainland also approved 2,216 Taiwan-funded projects from January to August, 5.5 percent fewer than a year ago. The investment funds actually used stood at 950 million U.S. dollars, an annual decrease of 29.3 percent.

By August, the mainland had attracted 44.84 billion U.S. dollars in direct investment from Taiwan. The island is the mainland's fifth largest investor in terms of actually-used overseas investment.