Figures released by Derbyshire & Nottinghamshire Chamber of Commerce also show that local businesses managed to do £2.7 million worth of trade with Libya.

But the Chamber's Export Barometer points to disappointingly low levels of business with China, the world's fastest-growing big economy.

The Chamber's figures show that exports are around half the levels of November last year, when the region's firms sold around £60 million worth of goods overseas.

The top three exporting countries for local firms in February were the United Arab Emirates, where goods and services worth £5.78 million were sold; Russia (£4.04 million); and Saudi Arabia (£2.99 million).

By contrast, only £188,000 worth of goods were sold to China.

The Barometer records the Sterling value of exports processed by the Chamber's international trade team, which helps firms with overseas sales paperwork.

Chamber chief executive George Cowcher said: "These figures provide us with stark evidence that local exporters are not taking full advantage of the opportunities on offer in China. Getting more UK-manufactured products into this highly-lucrative market is of paramount importance if we are to stand any chance of creating the export-led economy that will drive future growth.

"It's also important for firms not to view China as a single market entity and avoid concentrating their efforts on its established export markets.

"It can pay dividends for companies to explore opportunities in new regions, which go far beyond the traditional Tier 1 cities of Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou.

"With more than 150 Chinese cities with a million inhabitants or more, China's state-of-the-art transport network and communications infrastructure is opening up the entire nation to overseas investors and we need our businesses to bring a significant slice of that cake back here to Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire."