Weihai, a coastal city in East China's Shandong province, has witnessed a boom in foreign trade during the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-20), according to local officials.

Over the past five years, the city has established a total of 1,195 foreign-invested projects, including 220 receiving more than $10 million in investment.

Weihai, a coastal city in Shandong province, boasts a vibrant economy. [Photo/VCG]

The city's actual utilized foreign capital is estimated at around $1.34 billion for 2020, a year-on-year increase of 10 percent.

The total value of the city's imports and exports increased from 105.4 billion yuan ($16.27 billion) in 2015 to nearly 170 billion yuan in 2020, an increase of 60 percent.

Countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative have gradually become the main foreign trade markets for Weihai, accounting for about 40.9 percent of the city's total foreign trade. Its imports and exports to traditional markets such as Europe, the United States, Japan, and South Korea have also maintained rapid growth.

Weihai has been included in the China-Republic of Korea (ROK) Free Trade Agreement. It will build a local economic cooperation demonstration zone for the FTA and serve as a hub for bilateral communication and the promotion of economic and trade development between the two countries.

The city has also been approved as a national innovative development city for service trade three times in a row, and has been approved as a comprehensive experimental zone for cross-border e-commerce at the provincial and national levels.

Its cross-border e-commerce exports have been the highest in Shandong province for the past five years.