Southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region achieved US$290 million of foreign trade in 2006, a year-on-year increase of 40.7 percent, the regional government reported on Tuesday.

Exports hit more than US$199 million, up 21 percent from last year, while imports reached more than US$90 million, a 125 percent surge, according to the regional Commerce Department.

"The boom can be attributed to the Qinghai-Tibet railway and the reopening of Nathu La Pass and trading markets on the China-India border," said Tan Yungao, director of the department.

Major export commodities include "summer-grass winter-worm", a fungus that has been used in Chinese medicine to improve people's immunity for thousands of years. The herb sells at thousands of US dollars per kilogram.

Other commodities for export include wool, cashmere products and Tibetan blankets, according to the official.

The Renqinggang interim market on the China-India border notched up 1.49 million yuan (US$190,000 million) in imports and exports from July to September, the opening period.

The market lies some 16 kilometers from Nathu La Pass on the China-India border, which reopened last July 44 years after a frontier conflict closed down the ancient "Silk Road".

The inauguration of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway on July 1 last year ended the history of no railways in Tibet and has created opportunities for regional development.

Border trade exceeded 157 million yuan (US$20 million), up 28.71 percent from 2005 and representing 54 percent of the region's total foreign trade volume.

(Xinhua News Agency January 23, 2007)