In 1978, China embarked on the great journey of reform and opening-up. Over the past 40 years, the country and its people, with vision, hard work and perseverance, have forged ahead and taken a historic stride.

East China's Shandong province is a pioneer in implementing the reform and opening-up policy and has witnessed rapid economic development and a great increase of people's living standards in the past 40 years.

The province has embraced the world stage with open arms and pursued its development through opening-up. The number of the province's foreign trade partners increased from more than 50 at the beginning of reform and opening up to 226 in 2017. The total import and export value of Shandong has jumped from $3 million in 1980 to $263.06 billion in 2017, with an average annual increase of 35.7 percent.