(ECNS) -- Foreign trade in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region reached 335.22 billion yuan ($49.9 billion) in the first seven months of 2026, up 4.4% year on year, according to Urumqi Customs. In July alone, the region's foreign trade surged 70.4% from a year earlier.

Trade with Belt and Road partner countries rose 6.6%, accounting for 87.2% of Xinjiang's total foreign trade. Trade with ASEAN grew 44.3%, while trade with Africa more than doubled, jumping 112.3%.

Imports grew 20.7 percentage points faster than exports during the period. Imports of bulk commodities rose 33% to 10.787 million metric tons.

(By Intern Yang Hongran, Zhang Dongfang)