JINAN -- East China's Shandong province, the country's largest exporter of agricultural products, saw its exports increase to $7.31 billion in the first half of the year.

The figure represented a 3.6 percent rise year-on-year, the provincial agricultural department said in a Thursday report.

Garlic accounted for one third of the province's vegetable exports, said Zhang Li, director of the department's international cooperation office.

Shandong exported 52.3 tons of garlic at a value of $630 million in the first half, representing year-on-year growth totaling 42.9 percent.

The province's farm produce import and export trade volume totaled $18.77 billion in the first half, an 8.6-percent year-on-year increase.

Shandong has been the country's biggest exporter of agricultural products for more than a decade.