Trade volume between the Chinese mainland and Hong Kong dropped 23.6 percent year on year during the first seven months of 2009, said the Ministry of Commerce (MOC).

Trade volume was 88.68 billion U.S. dollars during the January to July period, say statistics of the MOC's Department of Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao Affairs.

In the first seven months, the Chinese mainland approved 5,431 projects funded by businessmen from Hong Kong, down 31.4 percent year on year.

The mainland received 22.6 billion U.S. dollars of direct investment from Hong Kong in the first seven months, down 15.3 percent year on year.