Xinjiang's foreign trade in 2025 hits new record

China

Xinjiang's foreign trade in 2025 hits new record

2026-01-25 13:07 Last Updated At：18:57

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.

Escalating Middle East tensions drive up energy prices, squeezing US consumers

Soaring oil prices triggered by escalating tensions in the Middle East have heightened U.S. inflation pressures, with analysts warning that households face hundreds of dollars in extra costs if crude climbs further.

Data released on Tuesday by the American Automobile Association (AAA) showed that the national average price of regular gasoline in the United States has risen 18.64 percent compared with Feb. 26. The AAA data also indicated that the national average price of diesel on Tuesday was up 22.85 percent from a week earlier.

Mark Zandi, chief economist at global ratings agency Moody's, warned that U.S. consumers are being threatened by a sharp rise in fuel prices. He said that if international oil prices climb by another 10 U.S. dollars per barrel, annual spending for an average U.S. household would increase by about 450 dollars.

Zandi noted that a surge in oil prices would intensify inflationary pressure in the United States, eroding consumers' purchasing power and weighing on consumption, economic growth, and employment.

Tensions sharply escalated across the Middle East on Feb 28 when the United States and Israel launched large-scale joint airstrikes on Iran. The Iranian side has responded with multiple waves of missile and drone attacks targeting Israel and U.S. assets across the region, hitting many countries in the Gulf.