A US cargo ship docks at the Qingdao Port, Shandong province. [Photo by Yu Shaoyue/For China Daily]

Qingdao's foreign trade value totaled 260.91 billion yuan ($38.41 billion) in the first four months of 2022, up 6 percent year-on-year and accounting for 26.9 percent of the provincial total, according to statistics from Qingdao customs.

Among the 15 sub-provincial cities in China, the imports and exports value of Qingdao ranked sixth, following Shenzhen, Ningbo, Guangzhou, Xiamen and Chengdu.

From January to April, the eastern coastal city's exports reached 151.74 billion yuan, up 13.1 percent, while imports totaled 109.17 billion yuan, down 2.6 percent.

During this period, the imports and exports of general trade of Qingdao reached 174.54 billion yuan, up 4.4 percent and accounting for 66.9 percent of the city's total foreign trade volume.

Imports and exports of bonded logistics reached 42.65 billion yuan, up 38.1 percent and accounting for 16.3 percent of the city's total.

Private enterprises continued to dominate the city's foreign trade volume. In the first four months of this year, the imports and exports volume of private enterprises in Qingdao totaled 173.76 billion yuan, up 8.5 percent and accounting for 66.6 percent of the city's total.

Imports and exports of foreign-invested enterprises totaled 49.52 billion yuan, down 9.2 percent. The figure of State-owned enterprises hit 37.49 billion yuan, up 22.4 percent.

ASEAN, the United States and the European Union were the city's top three trading partners. Qingdao's trade with ASEAN and the US reached 42.12 billion yuan and 31.34 billion yuan, up 2.5 percent and 6.2 percent, respectively. Its trade with the EU totaled 28.92 billion yuan, down 1.5 percent.

Imports and exports between Qingdao and RCEP members reached 100.17 billion yuan, up 4.2 percent, while the city's trade with countries and regions involved in the Belt and Road Initiative hit 81.83 billion yuan, up 6.1 percent.