YINCHUAN, July 18 (Xinhua) -- Northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region saw its foreign trade surge 70.1 percent year on year to reach 12.25 billion yuan (about 1.82 billion U.S. dollars) in the first half of 2022, local customs authorities said.

Of the total, exports rose 87.7 percent year on year to 10.04 billion yuan.

The import and export of private enterprises in the region remained vigorous. From January to June, the import and export of private enterprises reached 8.49 billion yuan, up 78.5 percent year on year.

During this period, Ningxia's foreign trade with the European Union, the United States, and Japan stood at 2.46 billion yuan, 1.25 billion yuan, and 1.14 billion yuan, respectively, up 108.2 percent, 101.8 percent, and 32.6 percent from the previous year.