The eastern coastal city of Qingdao, Shandong province has been included among China's top 100 cities for foreign trade in 2019, according to the list released by the General Administration of Customs.

The cities on the list were evaluated based on 20 factors, including a city's competitiveness in foreign trade, industrial structure, development and potential.

Qingdao, a vibrant coastal city in Shandong province [Photo/WeChat account: qdfbwx]

Qingdao was ranked 10th on the list. The other top 10 cities were Shenzhen, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Dongguan, Xiamen, Suzhou, Zhuhai, Ningbo and Chongqing.

Imports and exports in Qingdao reached a record high of 592.56 billion yuan ($84.31 billion) in 2019, an increase of 11.2 percent year-on-year and accounting for 29 percent of Shandong's total, according to statistics from Qingdao customs.

The growth rate was 5.4 percentage points higher than that of the whole province and 7.8 percentage points higher than that of the whole country.

National strategies such as local economic and trade cooperation between China and the SCO, the Qingdao Area of the China (Shandong) Pilot Free Trade Zone, and the Belt and Road Initiative have also brought policy benefits and important opportunities for the development of foreign trade.