Qingdao Port, Shandong province. [Photo/IC] 

The foreign trade of East China's Shandong province rose 1.8 percent year-on-year to 1.56 trillion yuan (about $218.45 billion) in the first half of the year, the best performance in its history, according to official data released by the local customs authorities on July 18.

Specifically, imports to Shandong grew 1.7 percent to 638.07 billion yuan, while exports expanded 1.9 percent to 924.9 billion yuan.

During this period, exported mechanical and electrical products were worth 432.48 billion yuan, up 15.3 percent year-on-year and accounting for 46.8 percent of the total export value. Exports of agricultural products totaled 68.13 billion yuan, up 4.3 percent.

Private enterprises continued to dominate the province's foreign trade. During the Jan-June period, the imports and exports volume of Shandong's private enterprises hit 1.15 trillion yuan, accounting for 73.6 percent of the provincial total. The export of high-tech products by private enterprises reached 46.61 billion yuan, up 27.2 percent.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the launch of the Belt and Road Initiative. Shandong province has been actively integrating into the construction of the Belt and Road Initiative, and its trade with countries and regions involved in the Belt and Road Initiative increased at an average annual growth of 12.3 percent from 404.45 billion yuan in 2013 to 1.3 trillion yuan in 2022.

In the first half of this year, Shandong's trade with BRI countries amounted to 632.24 billion yuan, an increase of 12 percent year-on-year.

Shandong authorities said they will continue to enhance cooperation with Belt and Road nations and further promote trade and investment liberalization and facilitation. Measures will also be taken to speed up the development of port infrastructure and regional and international logistic corridors, and ensure stable and smooth functioning of regional industrial and supply chains.