The Ministry of Finance (MOF) said that Taiwan's imports from mainland China grew 11.0% year-on-year to reach US$23.04 billion in the first half of 2014, or around 17% of the country's overall imports, taking over Japan's US$20.84 billion to become Taiwan's biggest importer, according to the ministry's press release on July 18. In terms of product items, top ranking import commodities from China include electronic products, basic metals, chemical products, and ICT products. In particular, smartphones and other ICT products imported from China topped over US$2.4 billion in the Jan-Jun period. Meanwhile, declines in imports from Japan are partly attributed to the depreciation of Japanese yen since the end of 2013, said MOF.