BEIJING, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Beijing saw its foreign trade increase by 6.8 percent year on year to 1.38 trillion yuan (about 201 billion U.S. dollars) in the first half of this year, local customs said Friday.

The city's imports grew 7.8 percent year on year to 1.14 trillion yuan over the period while exports rose 2.2 percent to 240.56 billion yuan, Beijing Customs said.

The city saw trade with the European Union rise 25.5 percent to 188.4 billion yuan in the first six months and trade with Australia increase 46.2 percent to 99.82 billion yuan.

During the period, Beijing's trade with the United States fell 33.9 percent to 85.59 billion yuan.

In terms of major imported products, the city imported 213.52 billion yuan worth of mechanical and electrical products in the Jan.-June period, down 1.1 percent, and 86.46 billion yuan worth of high-tech products, down 4 percent.

As for exports, Beijing exported 96.58 billion yuan worth of mechanical and electrical products from January to June, down 2.8 percent year on year. The exports of mobile phones surged 71.5 percent to reach 17.91 billion yuan.