HOHHOT, March 30 -- North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region saw an increase in trade volume with countries along the Belt and Road in the first two months of this year, customs authorities in Hohhot, capital of the region, announced Thursday.

The trade volume between Inner Mongolia and these countries hit 8.99 billion yuan (1.3 billion U.S. dollars) in January and February of 2017, a year-on-year increase of 37.1 percent, according to the customs.

Exports increased 26.1 percent to 2.82 billion yuan and imports grew 42.7 percent to about 6.17 billion yuan during the period.

Among these countries, Mongolia and Russiaremained the major trade parters of the region.

Jiao Zhijun, an official with the Hohhot Customs, said that since the Belt and Road Initiative was proposed in 2013, Inner Mongolia's role in cooperation with countries along the Belt and Road has become more important.