Xinjiang's foreign trade up 28% in first 10 months

URUMQI -- China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region recorded around 131.5 billion yuan (about $18.7 billion) in imports and exports in the first 10 months of this year, up 28 percent year on year, local authorities said Monday.

The autonomous region's export volume during the period was 100.2 billion yuan, up 19.9 percent, while its import volume soared to 31.3 billion yuan, up 63.1 percent, according to the customs authorities of Urumqi, the regional capital.

In the first 10 months, Kazakhstan topped the list of Xinjiang's major trade partners, with trade volume between the two growing by 28.2 percent to 60.2 billion yuan.

Xinjiang's trade with Kyrgyzstan, Australia, Pakistan, Britain, Argentina and Vietnam also showed fast growth, according to the local customs authorities.