URUMQI, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- The foreign trade volume of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region rose 11.6 percent year on year in January to 13.94 billion yuan (2.08 billion U.S. dollars), Urumqi Customs data showed.

Exports grew 10.2 percent year on year to 11.34 billion yuan in January, while imports rose 18.8 percent to 2.6 billion yuan.

According to customs, the small-scale border trade volume in Xinjiang reached 9.25 billion yuan last month, up 12 percent compared with the same period last year, accounting for 66.4 percent of the region's total foreign trade volume.

Trade with Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia increased. In January, the trade between Xinjiang and Kazakhstan hit 5.5 billion yuan, up 7.8 percent year on year.

Meanwhile, the region exported 78,000 tonnes of agriculture products worth 590 million yuan last month, up 17.3 percent year on year.

The regional government has been promoting tax reduction policy and optimizing business environment since last year. In December, the time required for the customs clearance process was further reduced.