Farm produce exports increase in E China province

East China's Shandong Province, the country's largest exporter of agricultural products, saw its exports increase to 7.31 billion U.S. dollars in the first half of the year.

The figure represented a 3.6-percent rise year-on-year, the provincial agricultural department said in a Thursday report.

Garlic accounted for one-third of the province's vegetable exports, said Zhang Li, director of the department's international cooperation office.

Shandong exported 52.3 tonnes of garlic at a value of 630 million U.S dollars in the first half, representing year-on-year growth totaling 42.9 percent.

The province's farm produce import and export trade volume totaled 18.77 billion U.S. dollars in the first half, an 8.6-percent year-on-year increase.

Shandong has been the country's biggest exporter of agricultural products for more than a decade.