Xinjiang sees rise in foreign trade

URUMQI - Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region registered a foreign trade of 3.3 billion US dollars in the first two months of this year, up 24.2 percent year on year.

Technicians at Petro China's Xinjiang Oilfield Company make routine checks of equipment in early February in Karamay, Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region. [Photo/Xinhua]

According to the Urumqi Customs, the region's exports in the period hit 2.7 billion U.S. dollars, up by 23.1 percent, while its imports were 560 million U.S. dollars, up by 29.5 percent.

Exports were mainly machinery and some labor-intensive products, while imports were mainly agricultural and resource products. Imports of agricultural products grew by 39.8 percent from the same period last year.

Agricultural products from the Central Asia are in increasing demand in western China. Xinjiang imported 110 million U.S. dollars' worth of agricultural products from the Central Asia during the first two months this year.

During that period, trade volume between Xinjiang and Kazakhstan hit 1.4 billion U.S. dollars, a year-on-year growth of 47.7 percent. Xinjiang saw a growth of 170 percent in its trade volume with Russia, and a growth of 56.5 percent with Uzbekistan.