Xinjiang sees drop in foreign trade

URUMQI - Trade between northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region and its central Asian neighbors has declined this year.

The region's foreign trade was 101.8 billion yuan ($16 billion) in the first ten months of 2015, down 26.5 percent from the same period last year.

Jan-Oct trade with Kazakhstan, Xinjiang's biggest trade partner in the region, dropped 41.2 percent year on year to about 30 billion yuan. Trade with Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan also saw double-digit declines. The region's trade with Russia fell by 46.3 percent to 4.65 billion yuan.

Analysts have attributed the decline to the stagnant economy and weakening currency of the central Asian neighbors.

Xinjiang's exports reached 90.7 billion yuan in the first ten months this year, down 24.7 percent. Imports were 11.1 billion, down 38.7 percent. Xinjiang's main exports to the countries include mechanical and electrical products, textiles and other household items.

The Xinjiang local government has opened more ports to facilitate agricultural trade, but analysts warn the situation will not improve unless Xinjiang expands trade to other countries and improves its trade structure.