According to the Jinan customs authority, in the first seven months of this year, Shandong province's imported and exported agricultural products reached 117.53 billion yuan ($17.24 billion). 

In July, the imported and exported agricultural products achieved 19.02 billion yuan, an increase of 2.8 percent. The figure for imports was 8.73 billion yuan, a growth of 2.2 percent while the export total was 10.29 billion yuan, an increase of 3.3 percent.

The imported goods were mainly cereals, aquatic products and cotton. In the first seven months, Shandong's imported grain reached 22.43 billion yuan, accounting for 40.8 percent of the gross import value, soybeans alone accounted for 17.52 billion yuan. 

During the same period, imported aquatic products were valued at 10.43 billion yuan, an increase of 15.6 percent, while imported cotton was 4.74 billion yuan, an increase of 25.5 percent.

The dominant exported goods included aquatic products and vegetables. From January to July, Shandong's exported aquatic products reached 17.98 billion yuan and exported vegetables 14.09 billion yuan. The two account for 51.3 percent of the gross export value. Besides, the province's exported fresh and dried fruits and nuts achieved 3.68 billion yuan, an increase of 5.1 percent. 

The United States, Latin America and Australia are the main import markets, while Japan, EU and ASEAN are the main export markets. 

In the first seven months, Shandong imported 13.93 billion yuan worth of agricultural products from Latin America, 13.58 billion yuan worth of products from US, and 4.16 billion yuan worth of products from Australia. Together they accounted for 57.6 percent of the gross import value of Shandong's agricultural products during the same period. 

Shandong's exported agricultural products to Japan, EU and ASEAN respectively reached 15.92 billion yuan, 9.77 billion yuan and 9.59 billion yuan, which accounted for 56.4 percent of the gross export value of Shandong agricultural products during the period.