The eastern coastal city of Qingdao, Shandong province has been ramping up efforts to build an international hub for shipping, trade and finance, local media reported.

As the eastern starting point of the New Eurasian Land Bridge and the hub city of the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, Qingdao has been giving full play to its strengths in shipping, trade and finance.

Qingdao Port [Photo/IC]

In the first half of this year, Qingdao Port handled 319.02 million tons of cargo, up 7.6 percent year-on-year, ranking fourth in China. Container throughput reached 11.66 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units), up 12.7 percent year-on-year, the fifth highest in China. Qingdao Port was also among the top three in the CPPI 2020 list.

The Qingdao Jiaodong International Airport, the first 4F ranked international airport in Shandong province, was opened to air traffic on Aug 12. The new airport aims to be a world-class aviation hub in Northeast Asia and cement Qingdao's position as a gateway to Japan and South Korea.

New energy vehicles at the production line in Qingdao [Photo/IC]

The Qingdao Multimodal Transport Center has operated 20 international and domestic freight train routes. In the first half of this year, 297 freight train trips were made to Europe and Asia, up 82 percent year-on-year, among which 243 trips were made to Central Asia, up 57 percent year-on-year.

The international freight train service has improved regional foreign trade efficiency and promoted the city's economic and trade exchanges with the Shanghai Cooperation Organization states, as well as countries and regions involved in the Belt and Road Initiative.

Qingdao has launched a slew of policies and measures to encourage cross-border e-commerce and other new business forms to grow even quicker to foster new drivers of foreign trade.

The eastern coastal city of Qingdao, Shandong province [Photo/VCG]

In the first half of this year, the city's cross-border e-commerce import and export reached 10.09 billion yuan ($1.56 billion), up 751.1 percent year-on-year.

During this period, the total import and export value of the city reached 397.52 billion yuan, up 39.6 percent year-on-year, accounting for 29.7 percent of Shandong's total.