[Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Shandong, the birthplace of Confucius and China's biggest exporter of agricultural products, is an important province in terms of culture and economy on the east coast of China. It is also a significant strategic fulcrum for the countries and regions along the New Eurasian Continental Bridge Economic Corridor and the Maritime Silk Road.

It consists of 16 prefecture-level cities. They are Jinan, its provincial capital, Qingdao, Zibo, Zaozhuang, Dongying, Yantai, Weifang, Jining, Tai'an, Weihai, Rizhao, Linyi, Dezhou, Liaocheng, Binzhou, and Heze.