The Shandong Provincial People's Government recently released a guideline on advancing the construction of a modern circulation system to foster the new development pattern of "dual circulation" during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-25).

Covering 20 measures in six categories, the guideline is designed to reduce the transaction cost and form a modern circulation service system in Shandong province, said local authorities.

Shandong plans to further open up access to the sea in the Yellow River Basin. Fifty inland ports in the region along the Yellow River will be built to promote the construction of a major East-West passage linking Jinan with Xi'an, Lanzhou and Xining via Zhengzhou.

The province will speed up the resumption of navigation on the Xiaoqing River in Jinan, develop river-sea combined transport, and open up new transport channels for bulk commodities along the Yellow River.

Shandong will promote the construction of national logistics hub cities such as Jinan, Qingdao and Linyi, and cultivate the hub economy.

The province will cultivate three to five large circulation enterprise groups with sales exceeding 100 billion yuan ($15.64 billion), introduce and cultivate 10 global logistics enterprises, 50 national large-scale logistics enterprises, 100 specialized small and medium-sized logistics enterprises, and cultivate about 30 industrial bases with an annual turnover of 50 billion yuan.

Efforts will also be made to improve the rural distribution system and integrate the urban and rural circulation systems.