On August 20, the reporter learned from Urumqi Customs: In the first seven months, Xinjiang's total foreign trade import and export value reached 253.27 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 39.1%, and foreign trade continued to maintain a steady and improving trend.

　　In the first seven months, the China (Xinjiang) Pilot Free Trade Zone's leading role became prominent, achieving an import and export value of 85.13 billion yuan, accounting for 33.6% of Xinjiang's total foreign trade import and export value during the same period. The main foreign trade prefectures and cities continued to maintain rapid growth. In the first seven months, Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture, Kashgar Prefecture, and Urumqi City ranked in the top three in the region in terms of import and export scale, increasing by 71.7%, 50.1%, and 15.1% year-on-year respectively, accounting for 26.7%, 24.9%, and 18.2% of Xinjiang's total foreign trade import and export value during the same period respectively.

　　As an important platform for opening up to the outside world, comprehensive bonded zones play an important role in expanding foreign trade, attracting foreign investment, and promoting industrial transformation and upgrading. The total import and export value of Xinjiang's four comprehensive bonded zones increased by 51% year-on-year, accounting for 42.9% of Xinjiang's total foreign trade import and export value during the same period. Among them, the import and export values of the Kashgar, Horgos, Alashankou, and Urumqi comprehensive bonded zones increased by 64.7%, 71.1%, 30.5%, and 31.2% year-on-year respectively.

　　From the perspective of trade modes, border small-amount trade and general trade continued to play a supporting role in the region's foreign trade. In the first seven months, the import and export values of border small-amount trade and general trade increased by 21% and 101.1% year-on-year respectively, accounting for 53.9% and 35.2% of Xinjiang's total foreign trade import and export value during the same period respectively. The import and export value by bonded logistics increased by 20% year-on-year. New forms of foreign trade expanded the space for foreign trade development, with the import and export value of the flexible and convenient market procurement trade increasing by 806.3% year-on-year, and the import and export value of border resident mutual-aid trade increasing by 140.1% year-on-year.

　　From the perspective of trading partners, Xinjiang's international "circle of friends" has become more diversified. In the first seven months, China's Xinjiang conducted trade with 206 countries and regions around the world, among which the import and export values with Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan increased by 37% and 4.4% year-on-year respectively. During the same period, China's Xinjiang's import and export values with countries jointly building the "Belt and Road," the five Central Asian countries, and other member states of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) increased by 35.7%, 18.5%, and 291.7% year-on-year respectively.

　　Since the beginning of this year, Xinjiang has relied on its unique locational and policy advantages to continuously optimize the business environment, actively cultivate new drivers of foreign trade development, and promote the sustained, stable, high-quality, and positive development of Xinjiang's foreign trade. Foreign trade enterprises have further unleashed their development vitality.

　　In the first seven months, the number of enterprises in Xinjiang with actual import and export performance increased by 21.3% year-on-year. Among them, the import and export value of Xinjiang's private enterprises increased by 38.1% year-on-year, accounting for 92.8% of Xinjiang's total foreign trade import and export value during the same period. Their dominant position was further consolidated, driving the growth of Xinjiang's total foreign trade import and export value during the same period by 35.6 percentage points. The import and export values of state-owned enterprises and foreign-invested enterprises increased by 55.8% and 30% year-on-year respectively.