Shandong's trade with countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative rose 4.4 percent year-on-year to 292.33 billion yuan ($41.67 billion) in the first half of this year, local authorities said on July 23.

Containers are unloaded at Qingdao Port in Shandong province in March. [Photo by Yu Fangping/For China Daily]

According to Jinan customs, the province's trade volume with BRI countries accounted for 30.9 percent of its total in this period. Its exports to BRI countries reached 162.8 billion yuan, up 8.9 percent year-on-year, while imports dropped 0.7 percent to 129.53 billion yuan.

Mechanical and electrical products, labor-intensive products, and agricultural products were Shandong's main export commodities in the first half.

It exported 70.52 billion yuan worth of mechanical and electrical products to BRI countries, up 13.9 percent year-on-year. Exports of integrated circuits reached 1.53 billion yuan, 34.9 times higher than last year.

Jinan customs assists a local company in exporting 18,930 succulent ornamental plants to Thailand. [Photo/iqilu.com]

Exports of labor-intensive products totaled 19.9 billion yuan, up 15.4 percent, while exports of agricultural products reached 18.05 billion yuan, up 25.7 percent.

The top imported commodity was crude oil. In this period, Shandong imported 61.2 billion yuan worth of crude oil from BRI countries, a slight increase of 0.1 percent.

Shandong's trade with ASEAN saw a year-on-year increase of 16 percent to 123.47 billion yuan in the period, accounting for 42.2 percent of its trade with BRI countries.

Jinan customs assists the export of bus products to Saudi Arabia. [Photo/iqilu.com]