Xinjiang posts 30 pct foreign trade growth in Jan.-May

URUMQI, June 21 (Xinhua) -- Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region recorded over 67.4 billion yuan (about 10 billion U.S. dollars) in foreign trade in the first five months of this year, up 30.9 percent year on year.

The Customs of Urumqi, the region's capital, said that from January to May, the region had trade with 157 countries and regions.

Its trade with countries along the Belt and Road increased by 39.6 percent year on year to 61 billion yuan, accounting for 90.6 percent of the region's total imports and exports. The figure with members of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) reached 4.3 billion yuan, up 28.2 percent year on year.

During the period, Kyrgyzstan remains Xinjiang's largest trade partner, with more than 23 billion yuan in trade, up 425 percent year on year.

"We will further improve the level of trade facilitation, reduce the cost of trade enterprises, and take practical measures to promote the high-quality development of Xinjiang's foreign trade," said Wu Wei, an official with the Customs of Urumqi.