Trade between the Chinese mainland and Macao in the first half of the year rose 9.3 percent year on year to reach 1.07 billion U.S. dollars, the?Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said Monday.

Mainland exports to Macao jumped 31.6 percent to 1.02 billion U.S. dollars while imports from Macao dropped 75.8 percent year on year to 50 million U.S. dollars, a statement posted on the MOC website said.

The statement did not explain the sharp decline in imports from Macao.

In June, trade between the mainland and Macao hit 200 million U.S. dollars, a decrease of 4.8 percent compared to May. Mainland exports to Macao in June dropped 5 percent from May to 190 million U.S. dollars.

Macao investments in the mainland totaled 420 million U.S. dollars in the first half, up 36.8 percent year on year, the statement said.

The mainland signed 6,580 projects and labor contracts worth 790 million U.S. dollars with Macao during the period.

Some 45,864 mainland workers were in Macao at the end of June, the statement said.