The second session of the 13th Shandong Provincial People's Congress opened in Jinan, capital of Shandong province on Feb 14, with 865 delegates from all walks of life in attendance.

Liu Jiayi, Party chief of Shandong province, officially declared the event open, and Gong Zheng, governor of the province, delivered the annual government work report, highlighting several significant achievements the government has made over the last year.

According to Gong, 2018 was a remarkable year for Shandong as the province made steady progress in developing its economy, improving people's livelihoods, and deepening reform and opening up.

Last year Shandong's gross domestic product (GDP) was roughly 7.65 trillion yuan (about $1.13 trillion), a year-on-year growth of 6.4 percent, taking the third spot in terms of amount of provincial GDP in the country.

The province saw a total grain output of 50 billion kg, a rise of 7.7 percent in foreign trade, and an increase of 5.2 percent in profits of industrial enterprises above the designated size (those with annual sales of more than 5 million yuan, or $744,371).

It also saw increases of 7.5 percent in per capita disposable income of urban residents, and a 7.8 percent rise for those in rural areas.

In 2018, the province's general public budget grew by 6.3 percent.

Shandong's exports and imports hit record highs last year as its exports totaled 1.06 trillion yuan last year while imports stood at 873 billion yuan.

The total retail sales of consumer goods in the province saw a year-on-year rise of 8.8 percent in 2018.

A total of 1.37 million new jobs were created last year, and the unemployment rate was kept at 3.35 percent.

In terms of goals for 2019, Shandong aims to ram up innovation and further promote reform and opening-up while realizing a more high-quality, efficient, and sustainable development pattern.

Meanwhile, it will focus on rural vitalization, step up ecological protection and enhance people's livelihoods.

In 2019 the province has targeted economic growth at around 6.5 percent, an increase in general public budget of 5 percent, and creation of 1.1 million new jobs while keeping the registered unemployment within 4 percent. It will also continuously optimize government service and efficiency.

The second session of the 13th Shandong Provincial People's Congress opens in Jinan, capital of Shandong province on Feb 14, with 865 delegates from all walks of life in attendance. [Photo/iqilu.com]

Delegates listen to the 2018 government work report presented by Gong Zheng, governor of Shandong province at the second session of the 13th Shandong Provincial People's Congress in Jinan on Feb 14. [Photo/iqilu.com]

Delegates review the 2018 government work report at the second session of the 13th Shandong Provincial People's Congress in Jinan on Feb 14. [Photo/iqilu.com]