Jinan Comprehensive Bonded Zone and the Zhangjin Comprehensive Bonded Zone saw rapid development in major economic indicators in the first half of this year.

The imports and exports of the two zones totaled 10.33 billion yuan ($1.59 billion) during this period, up 78.1 percent year-on-year and accounting for 12.1 percent of the city's total.

The rankings of foreign trade volume in the Jinan and Zhangjin comprehensive bonded zones among China's comprehensive bonded zones increased by 14 and 21 places, respectively, compared with the last five months of this year.

The increases are partly due to efforts by local authorities. From January to June, local officials went to Shanghai, Shenzhen, Ningbo, Foshan, and Suzhou to host promotional activities and attracted 111 foreign-funded companies.

The two zones benefit from preferential tariff policies, as goods can be exempted from export and import licenses and import tariffs.

Japanese home appliance retailer Laox Co opened its "Laox Select" branch in Jinan, becoming a hot spot for consumers. The company plans to establish a storehouse at the Zhangjin Comprehensive Bonded Zone and aims to develop it into trade hub for Japanese products.

Local authorities will also make efforts to promote the construction of cross-border e-commerce industrial parks to bolster the industry’s development.

More enterprises are expected to set up operations in the two zones in the fields of processing, manufacturing, R&D, design, logistics distribution, testing, maintenance, sales, and services.

By 2023, the number of enterprises in the two comprehensive zones is expected to reach 300, including more than 100 cross-border e-commerce enterprises. By 2023, cross-border e-commerce transactions are expected to exceed 3 billion yuan.