WANG XIAOYING/CHINA DAILY

East China's Shandong province has actively integrated itself into the national opening-up strategy since the launch of the Belt and Road Initiative.

According to official statistics, the number of BRI countries with annual trade volume exceeding 10 billion yuan ($1.37 billion) with Shandong increased from 18 to 30 from 2013 to 2022.

Over the past 10 years, Shandong's trade value with countries and regions involved in the Belt and Road Initiative increased at an average annual rate of 9.7 percent from 745.05 billion yuan to 1.78 trillion yuan. Trade with these countries accounted for 64.4 percent of Shandong's total foreign trade during this period.

From 2013 to 2022, Shandong invested $14.96 billion in countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative.

In late September, the Department of Commerce of Shandong province organized a business delegation to visit Malaysia and Indonesia to promote the export of Shandong's distinctive products and enhance cooperation in the cross-border e-commerce sector.

More than 20 companies from the textile and apparel, fitness equipment, automotive parts, hardware, and chemical industries in Shandong participated in the trade exchange activities.

The activities invited over 170 local distributors, purchasers, e-commerce platforms, and large supermarkets from Malaysia and Indonesia to engage in on-site negotiations, resulting in cooperation intentions worth over $8 million being signed.

In recent years, global trade has faced challenges due to international geopolitical uncertainties and increased downward pressure on the world economy. Against this backdrop, Shandong has identified measures to expand emerging markets and stabilize foreign trade.

The province has carried out a series of business promotional activities and trade exhibition overseas. In the first eight months of this year, Shandong's trade volume with BRI countries totaled 1.2 trillion yuan, a 4.5 percent year-on-year growth and accounting for 56.3 percent of the province's foreign trade.