Qingdao, Shandong province [Photo/VCG]

In the first 11 months of this year, the foreign trade volume in the eastern coastal city of Qingdao, Shandong province surged 6.8 percent year-on-year to 820.32 billion yuan ($117.46 billion), accounting for 27.3 percent of Shandong's total.

Among the 15 sub-provincial cities in China, the foreign trade value of Qingdao ranked fifth after Shenzhen, Ningbo, Guangzhou and Xiamen.

In November, Qingdao's imports and exports reached 81.67 billion yuan, up 7.5 percent year-on-year.

During this period, the city's imports and exports of general trade increased by 3.6 percent to 541.46 billion yuan, and accounted for 66 percent of the total value of the city.

The imports and exports of bonded logistics reached 144.23 billion yuan, up 30.3 percent, while the figure of processing trade reached 115.61 billion yuan, up 5.4 percent.

An employee loads cargo bound for South Africa at Qingdao Port, Shandong province. [Photo by Zhang Jingang/For China Daily]

Private enterprises continued to dominate the city's foreign trade during the 11-month period. Imports and exports of private enterprises in Qingdao reached 569.61 billion yuan, up 11.2 percent, which accounted for 69.4 percent of the city's total.

Imports and exports of foreign-invested enterprises reached 141.94 billion yuan, down 10.1 percent, while the figure for State-owned enterprises reached 108.54 billion yuan, up 11.9 percent.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the United States and the European Union were Qingdao's top three trade partners from January to November.

Qingdao's trade with ASEAN and the US were 155.6 billion yuan and 91.02 billion yuan respectively, up 28.6 percent and a slight 0.6 percent. Its trade with the EU reached 85.32 billion yuan, down 4.3 percent.

Qingdao's trade with countries and regions involved in the Belt and Road Initiative reached 286.74 billion yuan, up 22.2 percent.