Urumqi handled more than 7.5 million pieces of international mail in the first 10 months of this year, according to the city's international mailing center, Urumqi Evening Post reported on Tuesday.

The figure is a year-on-year increase of 49.6 percent. According to the center, 99 percent of international mail leaving and entering Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region went through its capital, Urumqi.

According to the customs inspection of Urumqi Post Office, the number of outbound pieces of international mail reached 7.39 million, while inbound numbered 137,300 pieces from January to October.

International mail includes letters, parcels and express mail. The amount of international mail Urumqi handled has increased 10 times over the past seven years. In 2013, the city handled 553,900 pieces of international mail; the number hit 6.86 million last year.

Yang Yigang from the Urumqi Evening Post office's customs inspection center said inbound packages mainly included formula powder, health products, cosmetics and clothing from areas including Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, European countries and Australia. Outbound mail mainly consisted of parcels from online shopping to Russia and Kazakhstan.