Shandong foreign trade improves in Jan-Aug

(chinadaily.com.cn)| Updated : 2020-09-09

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Shandong province's foreign trade has gradually stabilized and improved during the first eight months of this year, according to local customs authorities.

Official data shows that in the first eight months of this year, imports and exports in Shandong reached a value of 1.34 trillion yuan ($196.04 billion), an increase of 1.5 percent over the same period last year, reversing the downward trend since the beginning of this year.

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Qingdao Port in East China's Shandong province [Photo/VCG]

During this period, the province's exports amounted to 756.76 billion yuan, up 5.9 percent, while imports were valued at 579.88 billion yuan, down 3.8 percent year on year. The trade surplus reached 176.87 billion yuan, an increase of 58.3 percent.

In August, Shandong's imports and exports reached a value of 198.81 billion yuan, up 21 percent year on year. Exports totaled 118.48 billion yuan, up 28.2 percent, while imports were valued at 80.33 billion yuan, up 11.7 percent.

According to local customs authorities, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the value of Shandong's monthly imports and exports dropped significantly at the beginning of the year.

With the epidemic being brought under control and steady progress being made in resuming work and production, foreign trade in Shandong has started picking up in the second half of the year. The growth rate continued to accelerate in July and August.

In the first eight months of the year, Shandong ranked third among the top 10 provinces and cities in terms of import and export growth.

During this period, imports and exports in Qingdao and Yantai continued to rank among the top cities in Shandong, valued at 395.54 billion yuan and 185.96 billion yuan, respectively.