The import and export revenue of the city of Zibo – located in East China's Shandong province – topped 109.7 billion yuan ($17.2 billion) in January to November, according to a news conference held on Dec 20.

The performance meant that the city's import and exports during the period surged 40.2 percent year-on-year.

Projections are that foreign trade for the full year will come in at around 118 billion yuan.

The actual use of foreign capital surged to $730 million in the first 11 months of 2021 and by the end of December the total is expected to double that of the previous year.

With its efforts made to introduce high-quality foreign projects, Zibo had 16 projects that used foreign capital of more than $10 million, with the total amount paid reaching $650 million.

Platforms for cross-border e-commerce were promoted to help enterprises export goods. From January to November, revenue from cross-border e-commerce exports in Zibo hit 2.6 billion yuan.

From January to October, enterprises in Zibo had invested nearly 100 million in countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative, taking up about 52.1 percent of the city's total overseas investment.

The Zibo Comprehensive Bonded Zone started operations on April 7. To date, it has signed up 36 projects in various industries, with a total investment of 32.5 billion yuan.

The city also organized three RCEP – Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership – sessions on policies and regulations and business practices, training more than 1,000 people.

An exterior view of the Zibo Comprehensive Bonded Zone. [Photo/WeChat account: zbgxqxcxwzx]