JINAN, July 24 (Xinhua) -- East China's Shandong Province saw its foreign trade with countries along the Belt and Road (B&R) up 4.4 percent year on year to 292.33 billion yuan (41.67 billion U.S. dollars) in the first half of this year, local authorities said Friday.

The province's trade volume with B&R countries accounted for more than 30 percent of its total in this period, according to the Jinan customs.

Exports to B&R countries reached 162.8 billion yuan, up 8.9 percent year on year, while imports went down 0.7 percent to 129.53 billion yuan.

The top imported commodity was crude oil, while mechanical and electrical products, labor-intensive products and agricultural products were among the top exported products.

Shandong's trade with ASEAN saw a year-on-year increase of 16 percent to reach 123.47 billion yuan in the period, accounting for 42.2 percent of its trade with B&R countries.