According to statistics from Tai'an customs, in the first 11 months of this year, the city's total import and export value reached 15.35 billion yuan ($2.22 billion), up 6.5 percent over the same period last year.

The city's export value grew by 5.8 percent, reaching 11.94 billion yuan, while imports increased by 9 percent, reaching 3.41 billion yuan in this period.

From January to November, the city's trade with the European Union reached 2.27 billion yuan, up 3.1 percent, while its trade with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations reached 1.93 billion yuan, up 8.8 percent.

Trade between Tai'an and Japan during this period reached 1.16 billion yuan, up 6.9 percent. The city's trade with countries in the Middle East totaled 1.1 billion yuan, up 34.5 percent.

In the first 11 months, the imports and exports of private enterprises in Tai'an reached 10.94 billion yuan, up 5.8 percent, accounting for 71.3 percent of the city's total.

The imports and exports of foreign-invested enterprises in Tai'an reached 1.48 billion yuan, up 15.3 percent, 8.8 percentage points higher than that of the whole city, accounting for 9.6 percent of the city's total.