TAIPEI, Sept. 9 (Xinhua) -- Foreign trade in Taiwan registered deficit for two consecutive months, according to figures from the Taiwan authorities.

    The island reported trade deficit of 410 million U.S. dollars in July and 30 million U.S. dollars in August, the latest statistics indicated.

    Although foreign trade in the first eight months this year still retained a favorable balance of 7.57 billion U.S. dollars, the figure was down 47 percent, or 6.7 billion U.S. dollars, from that of the same period of last year, the authorities said.

    Experts said that sounded a "warning signal" to the local economy as the island, with a relatively small local market, relied heavily on foreign trade.

    However, meanwhile, Taiwan's trade with the Chinese mainland remained robust. In the first half of this year, its export to the mainland surged 21.7 percent from the same period of last year, with the trade surplus reaching 24.4 billion U.S. dollars and expected to hit new high for the whole year.

    The mainland has become "the most important source" of Taiwan's overall trade surplus, said its authorities.