URUMQI, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- Foreign trade of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region reached 520.37 billion yuan (about 74.4 billion U.S. dollars) in 2025, up 19.9 percent year on year, surpassing the 500 billion yuan threshold for the first time, Urumqi Customs announced Friday.

The robust growth was fueled by a series of policies designed to expand foreign trade. Cross-border e-commerce exports surged by 232.8 percent and imports via border residents' mutual trade rose by 68.5 percent.

Xinjiang's expanding international cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) contributed significantly, with trade value involving BRI partner countries hitting 458.37 billion yuan, up 14.7 percent.

Trade with the five Central Asian countries alone reached 276.69 billion yuan. The region also accelerated its outreach to ASEAN, Africa, West Asia, the Middle East and Latin America.

Notably, Xinjiang's export structure continued to optimize, with mechanical and electrical product exports amounting to 186.5 billion yuan, a jump of 40.7 percent. Among these, shipments of automotive parts, electrical equipment and electronic components saw significant increases, while exports of high-end equipment linked to new quality productive forces surged nearly 70 percent.

Agricultural exports, including walnuts and grapes, also gained momentum, driving a 25.4 percent increase in the region's total agricultural exports.

Li Qinghua, deputy head of Urumqi Customs, said that Xinjiang's foreign trade maintained resilience and steady growth despite global challenges, adding that further efforts will focus on enhancing regulatory efficiency and service levels to support the region's high-level opening up. ■