China's Xinjiang posts foreign trade growth with EU in Jan-Nov

URUMQI - Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region recorded around 261.8 billion yuan ($41 billion) in foreign trade with the European Union countries in the first 11 months of this year, up 30 percent year-on-year, the local customs said on Monday.

According to Urumqi Customs, Xinjiang's exports to the EU hit 197.9 billion yuan, up 27.7 percent year-on-year in the January-November period, while its imports rose by 37.6 percent to reach 63.9 billion yuan.

Sun Tao, deputy director of the statistics and analysis department of the customs, attributed the robust figures to the booming China-Europe freight train services via ports in Xinjiang, the trade growth of mechanical and electrical products and the surge in the export of clean energy equipment and products.

In the first 11 months, a total of 11,156 China-Europe freight train trips were recorded by land ports in Xinjiang, a year-on-year increase of 26.8 percent. The total freight volume hit 1.1 million tons, up 30.2 percent year-on-year. Significant increases in trade have been seen with Germany, Poland, the Netherlands, France and Hungary.

During the period, Xinjiang ports exported 158 billion yuan of mechanical and electrical products to the EU, up 32.9 percent year-on-year, accounting for 79.9 percent of the total exports. Meanwhile, Xinjiang ports also saw a 29.2 percent increase in the import of mechanical and electrical products from the EU, accounting for 65.5 percent of the total imports.

"During the period, the exports of raw plastics, electric vehicles and polysilicon have doubled. Among exported labor-intensive products, plastic products, shoes and furniture have seen significant growth," Sun said.