East China's Shandong Province, the country's largest exporter of agricultural products, saw its exports increase to $7.31 billion 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 USdollars 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 US 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.