MK socksphoto taken on Oct. 25, 2024 shows trucks crossing the Irkeshtam port in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (Photo: Xinhua)" src="https://www.globaltimes.cn/Portals/0/attachment/2024/2024-11-03/c6aba0fd-4de4-47f2-9e85-5d5cfc64e150.jpeg" />

This photo taken on Oct. 25, 2024 shows trucks crossing the Irkeshtam port in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. (Photo: Xinhua)

The foreign trade volume of Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region hit 403.11 billion yuan ($55.23 billion) from January to November, 2024, an increase of 26 percent year-on-year, the fastest growth rate nationwide for the period, China Media Group (CMG) reported on Friday. 

This is the first time in history that the annual value of Xinjiang's foreign trade has exceeded the 400-billion-yuan benchmark, with exports reaching 343.04 billion yuan, up 27 percent year-on-year, and imports at 60.07 billion yuan, up 20.7 percent year-on-year, according to CMG. 

In the first 11 months, Xinjiang's foreign trade with its top two markets - the five Central Asian countries and ASEAN - increased by 6.9 percent and 231 percent year-on-year, respectively. During the period, Kazakhstan remained Xinjiang's largest single trade partner country, with foreign trade surging by 17.6 percent year-on-year.

Notably, Xinjiang's foreign trade with the five Central Asian countries accounts for 67.9 percent of the autonomous region's overall foreign volume, and its foreign trade with other emerging markets such as Africa, Western Asia, Latin America and Central and Eastern Europe also saw significant increases, said the report. 

Xinjiang's foreign trade showed an overall stable trend with steady progress in the last quarter of the year. The number of China-Europe freight trains passing through Xinjiang's Alashankou port in 2024 has crossed 7,000, Xinjiang Daily reported on December 6, the first time that the port's annual train facilitation volume has exceeded 7,000 in one year. 

Global Times