A truck is loaded with containers at Qingdao Port, Shandong province. ZHANG JINGANG/FOR CHINA DAILY 

According to Qingdao Customs statistics, Qingdao's import and export volume decreased by 5.9 percent year-on-year in the first two months of this year, reaching 124.49 billion yuan ($18.11 billion), which accounted for 26.8 percent of Shandong's total and ranking first in the province.

Among the 15 sub-provincial cities in China, Qingdao ranked fifth after Shenzhen, Ningbo, Guangzhou, and Xiamen in terms of foreign trade volume in the January-February period.

Over this period, Qingdao's general trade imports and exports amounted to 84.16 billion yuan, down 5.6 percent, which accounted for 67.6 percent of the city's total. Its imports and exports of bonded logistics reached 20.8 billion yuan, down 4.5 percent, while its processing trade imports and exports was 17.73 billion yuan, up 6.7 percent.

Private enterprises continue to dominate the city's foreign trade. From January to February, imports and exports of private enterprises in Qingdao saw a slight increase of 0.9 percent, hitting 88.45 billion yuan, which accounted for 71 percent of the city's total.

Imports and exports of foreign-invested enterprises reached 20.55 billion yuan, down 18.1 percent, while the figure of State-owned enterprises stood at 15.46 billion yuan, down 20.2 percent.

During this period, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the United States, and the European Union were the top three trading markets of Qingdao, with their trade volume hitting 19.3 billion yuan, 14.46 billion yuan, and 13.36 billion yuan, respectively, up 0.2 percent, down 13.1 percent, and down 9.5 percent.

The city's trade with countries and regions involved in the Belt and Road Initiative reached 42.08 billion yuan, up 4 percent.