The total output value of Shandong province in the first half of 2018 reached 3.97 trillion yuan ($579.97 billion), a year-on-year growth of 6.6 percent. The added value of primary industries was 227.18 billion yuan; the added value of secondary industries was 1.77 trillion yuan, an increase of 5.1 percent; and the added value of tertiary industries was 1.97 trillion yuan, an increase of 8.5 percent.

The ratio of the three industrial categories was 5.7: 44.7: 49.6. The tertiary industry proportion increased by 1 percent over the same period of the previous year.

Positive elements contribute to the growth 

In the first half of the year, Shandong's agricultural production maintained stable growth. The added value of agriculture, forestry, animal husbandry and fisheries (including their supporting service industries) was 238.66 billion yuan, an increase of 3.6 percent. 

The province's meat output from pigs, cattle, sheep and poultry was 4.06 million tons, a year-on-year decrease of 2.3 percent while poultry eggs reached 2.14 million tons, an increase of 1.5 percent. Milk production was 1.3 million tons, an increase of 1.1 percent.

Industrial production showed recovery. In the first half year, the province’s industrial added value increased by 5.3 percent, the growth rate rising by 0.1 percent. Forty-one industries showed a collective expansion of 87.8 percent, an increase of 4.9 percent over the first quarter. 

Foreign trade developed steadily. The import and export trades reached 885.84 billion yuan, a year-on-year growth of 1.2 percent. 

Employment remained stable. The newly employed population was 745,000, an increase of 7.9 percent. The urban registered unemployment rate was 3.39 percent, 0.06 percentage points lower than the rate at the end of last year.

Balanced development takes the lead

In the first half year, the added values of the equipment manufacturing industry and the high-tech manufacturing industry increased by 7.8 percent and 8.1 percent respectively. 

The added value of six major energy-consuming industries increased by 4.9 percent, but was down 1.3 percentage points from the same period last year. 

The added value of the service industry increased by 8.5 percent and the contribution rate to the economic growth of the province reached 60.4 percent. 

In the first half year, investment in the fixed assets of Shandong province increased by 6.1 percent, while the service industry increased by 15.1 percent and accounted for 57.6 percent of social investment 

Investment in six major energy-intensive industries has fallen since April by 7.9 percent. Investment in infrastructure for information transmission, software and information technology services rose by 15.5 percent, while that in water conservancy project, the environment and public facility management was up by 52.7 percent. 

In addition, total retail sales of consumer goods increased by 9.3 percent, among which retail sales in rural areas increased by 10.3 percent, 1.2 percentage points faster than the urban market.

Online consumption grew as usual. The on-line retail sales of goods increased by 36.5 percent, 2.1 percentage points faster than the same period of last year, which drove up retail sales by 1.3 percent in the whole province with a contribution rate of 16.9 percent. 

Mutual promotion of economic growth and efficiency improvement 

In the first half year, the general public budget revenue of Shandong province reached 367.1 billion yuan, an increase of 8 percent. Tax revenue growth was at14.4 percent, 4.2 percentage points higher than the same period of last year. 

Loans in Renminbi and foreign currencies in all items of Shandong financial institutions reached 7.52 trillion yuan at the end of June, an increase of 9 percent. The newly added local and foreign currency loans in the first half year were 423.85 billion yuan, an increase of 47.06 billion yuan over the same period last year. 

Industrial profit increased by 15.7 percent in the first four months of the year; the growth rate was higher than the nation's average level for the first time since 2014. 

Industrial profit grew by 17.1 percent from January to May, 0.6 percentage points higher than the national average level. 

In the first half year, the per capita disposable income of urban residents was 19,739 yuan, an increase of 7.6 percent; that of rural residents was 9,172 yuan, an increase of 7.7 percent. 

Factory prices and purchase prices of industrial producers increased by 4.1 percent and 3.9 percent respectively. The factory price has been higher than purchase prices for five months in a row. 

Highway freight increased 7.5 percent; while maritime trade rose 8.3 percent. 

The consumer confidence index of the second quarter was 123.4, higher than the same period of last year. The Shandong entrepreneur confidence index in the second quarter was 124.99 and the business climate index was 126.46, respectively 3.08 and 4.26 higher than the same period last year.

High quality development 

The number of Shandong's national-level innovation spaces and technological enterprise incubators reached 203 and 85, ranking second and third nationwide. 

In the first half of the year, industrial robots, integrated circuits, servers, new energy vehicles and other new products increased by 119.4 percent, 100 percent, 58.3 percent and 37.7 percent respectively.