The coastal city of Yantai, Shandong province saw double-digit growth in foreign trade in August, local media reported.

The city's imports and exports surged by 34.3 percent to 31.22 billion yuan ($4.61 billion), according to local authorities. This growth rate was 28.3 percentage points higher than the national average and 13.3 percentage points higher than the provincial average.

Accordingly the growth rate in August was the highest in three years, and the total value of the city's imports and exports was 185.96 billion yuan in the first eight months.

In August, the city's exports totaled 19 billion yuan, up 30.3 percent. Exports of traditional Chinese medicine, drugs and other epidemic prevention materials increased by 74.2 percent, while exports of fruit products increased by 53.2 percent.

The city's imports reached a value of 12.21 billion yuan, up 41 percent. Its main imports included coal and copper material products.

The EU was the city's largest trading partner, with trade valued at 26.24 billion yuan, up 4.7 percent in August. South Korea was its second largest trading partner with a total trade value of 23.72 billion yuan.

The city's cross-border e-commerce orders increased significantly. In August, cross-border e-commerce imports and exports were valued at 210 million yuan, up 1,247 percent. This growth rate was the fastest in Shandong province.