CHONGQING, July 19 (Xinhua) -- Southwest China's Chongqing Municipality saw its foreign trade reach 423.65 billion yuan (about 62.8 billion U.S. dollars) in the first half of 2022, a year-on-year increase of 12.5 percent, according to the city's customs authorities.

Of the total, exports rose 19.5 percent year on year to 276.99 billion yuan, and imports gained 1.3 percent to hit 146.66 billion yuan.

During this period, Chongqing's foreign trade with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the European Union and the United States stood at 66.29 billion yuan, 61.99 billion yuan and 57.92 billion yuan, respectively, up 5.2 percent, 5.6 percent and 4.4 percent from the same period last year.

Private enterprises were the main force promoting the growth of Chongqing's foreign trade. During the period, their trade volume grew 17.8 percent year on year to hit 191.4 billion yuan.

Notebook computers and integrated circuits were Chongqing's major export items, while integrated circuits were among the major import items over the first six months.