Containers carrying goods for export are seen in Qingdao Port, East China's Shandong province, on Oct 19, 2018. [Photo/VCG]

Figures released by Qingdao Customs show that in the first two months of this year, the total import and export value of Shandong province amounted to 297.33 billion yuan ($44.3 billion), an increase of 3.4 percent over the same period of last year.

Its export volume rose 1 percent year-on-year to 157.11 billion yuan while imports reached 140.22 billion yuan, up 6.1 percent year-on-year.

In the same period, the total volume of China's imports and exports increased by 0.7 percent. The export value and import value increased by 0.1 percent and 1.5 percent respectively.

From January to February, Shandong's import and export volume of general trade totaled 20.48 billion yuan, an increase of 1.9 percent, accounting for 67.5 percent of the total volume in the same period. Exports reached 111.18 billion yuan, an increase of 4.1 percent. It accounted for 70.8 percent of the total export value, up 2.1 percentage points.

In the same period, the import and export value of processing trade reached 60.03 billion yuan, down 8.5 percent, accounting for 20.2 percent of the total, down 2.6 percentage points.

The import and export value of bonded logistics hit 34.42 billion yuan, an increase of 52.3 percent, accounting for 11.6 percent of the total, up 3.7 percent.

The proportion of general trade exports increased to over 70 percent, and the import and export volume of bonded logistics increased substantially.

The import and export trade volume of private enterprises amounted to 18.04 billion yuan, an increase of 2.5 percent, accounting for 61.9 percent of the total, down 0.5 percentage points.

The volume of imports and exports generated by foreign-invested enterprises reached 82.53 billion yuan, down 1.6 percent, accounting for 27.8 percent of the total, down 1.4 percentage points. The value of imports increased by 7.5 percent.

The volume of imports and exports generated by state-owned enterprises was 30.74 billion yuan, an increase of 27.9 percent, accounting for 10.3 percent of the total, up 2 percentage points.

The province's imports and exports to major trade markets have grown.

Its foreign trade value with countries along the Belt and Road saw a faster growth with 6.2 percent year-on-year, accounting for 26.8 percent of the total, up 0.7 percentage points, which is higher than the overall growth rate. The imports and exports to Russia and India increased by 10.3 percent and 23.2 percent respectively.

The imports and exports to the top three markets, namely the EU, ASEAN and South Korea increased by 6.2 percent, 6.6 percent and 1.5 percent respectively.

In the first two months, the export volume of agricultural products reached 17.02 billion yuan, up 1.4 percent, accounting for 10.8 percent of the total export value.

The export volume of mechanical and electrical products totaled 58.63 billion yuan, down 0.4 percent, accounting for 37.3 percent of the total, down 0.5 percentage points.

The export volume of labor-intensive products amounted to 29.84 billion yuan, down 2.4 percent, accounting for 19 percent of the total, down 0.7 percentage points.

In addition, tire exports reached 8.36 billion yuan, up 1.4 percent. Steel exports jumped 10.4 percent year-on-year to 8.01 billion yuan.