Liaocheng, East China's Shandong province has made great efforts in boosting local consumption and promoting foreign trade in recent years to serve the city's high-quality development.

Statistics from the city's commerce bureau show that the city's total consumption amount maintained steady growth and its import and export volume hit a record high during the first three months this year.

From January to March, the city's foreign trade amounted to 12.96 billion yuan ($1.87 billion) and posted an increase of 19.4 percent year-on-year, 14.6 percentage points higher than the whole country. During the period, the city’s total retail sales of consumer goods reached 20.7 billion yuan, with a year-on-year growth of 5.3 percent.

A view of Liaocheng Cross-border E-commerce Industrial Park. [Photo by Liu Chuan/chinadaily.com.cn]

According to Feng Zifeng, deputy director of the Liaocheng municipal commerce bureau, the local government rolled out a series of measures to stimulate local consumption in the fields of household appliances, automobiles, and catering.

In the first quarter, a total of 28.8 million yuan of consumption vouchers were issued by the local government, driving sales of 460 million yuan in automobile, catering and retail sectors.

In addition, Liaocheng authorities focus on optimizing the business environment by providing a series of supporting measures to promote foreign trade.

A foreign trade service center at the Liaocheng Cross-border E-commerce Industrial Park. [Photo by Liu Chuan/chinadaily.com.cn]

The Liaocheng Cross-border E-commerce Industrial Park, founded in January 2022, has provided preferential policies for enterprises to settle in the park, such as free rent offices and training courses.

The park is building a comprehensive cross-border e-commerce platform by integrating cross-border e-commerce, overseas warehouses, logistics, finance, talent service, policies and information to help accelerate the upgrading of traditional industries.

"We are encouraging traditional foreign trade enterprises, cross-border e-commerce and logistics enterprises to participate in the construction of overseas warehouses, promote domestic brands and expand the international market," said Hou Min, general manager of the Liaocheng Cross-border E-commerce Industrial Park.

In the future, Liaocheng plans to develop new business modes and foster advantageous industries to boost foreign trade development and make use of high-end exhibitions to help local enterprises expand overseas market, a local official said.