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

East China's Shandong province has witnessed steady growth in its foreign trade during the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-20) period, according to local authorities.

According to a news conference held on Dec 16 by the Information Office of Shandong Provincial People's Government, the province has been continuously optimizing its structure, achieving high-quality development of an open economy over the past five years.

Officials said that during the 13th Five-Year Plan period, the province's imports and exports volume of goods has continued to increase.

Last year, the import and export value of Shandong reached 2.04 trillion yuan ($288 billion). From 2016 to 2019, the province's average annual foreign trade growth rate came in at 8.2 percent, higher than the national average.

The amount of foreign capital actually used in Shandong reached a record high, reaching $14.69 billion in 2019 and growing at an average annual rate of 13.8 percent from 2016 to 2019.

In the first 11 months of the current year, foreign trade and foreign investment in Shandong grew by 7.3 percent and 35.5 percent respectively, both higher than the national average.

Officials said that over the past five years, 56 Fortune 500 companies had invested in establishing 173 new companies in Shandong. To date, a total of 219 of the world's top 500 companies have invested in the province.

Shandong has become the only demonstration province for quality and safety of agricultural exports in China, while its agricultural exports have led the country for 21 consecutive years.