HARBIN, July 17 (Xinhua) -- The foreign trade volume of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province rose 21.5 percent year on year to 93.34 billion yuan (13.56 billion U.S. dollars) in the first half of the year, local customs authorities said Wednesday.

Exports rose 22.9 percent year on year to 16.28 billion yuan while imports gained 21.2 percent to 77.06 billion yuan, according to Harbin Customs.

The structure of foreign trade has been optimized, and in the first six months of the year, Heilongjiang exported more high-tech products.

Its trade with Russia has also seen stable growth. In the first half, Heilongjiang's trade with Russia totaled 64.27 billion yuan, up 20.3 percent, which accounted for 68.9 percent of the province's total foreign trade volume during the same period.

Exports to Russia increased 13.7 percent to 4.2 billion yuan while imports from Russia rose 20.8 percent to 60.07 billion yuan.