BEIJING, April 4 -- Trade between the Chinese mainland and Macao totaled 460 million U.S. dollars in the first two months of this year, down 32 percent year on year, according to data from the Ministry of Commerce (MOC).

Mainland exports to Macao stood at 440 million U.S. dollars, decreasing by 31.2 percent year on year. Imports from the region declined by 43.8 percent to 20 million U.S. dollars.

The number of projects the mainland had approved for investment from Macao and the actual use of Macao investment also dropped by half and 16.3 percent respectively in the two months.

In terms of actual use of investment, Macao accounted for 0.8 percent of the total overseas investment in the mainland as of the end of February, according to the MOC.