Containers are unloaded at Qingdao Port in Shandong province in March. [Photo by Yu Fangping/For China Daily]

During the 13th Five-Year Plan period (2016-20), Qingdao has been deeply integrated into the national opening-up strategy while ramping up efforts to shape an open economy, said local officials.

Various foreign-related economic indicators of Qingdao have taken a leading position in Shandong province, which has accomplished all its targets and tasks in the 13th Five-Year Plan.

As a coastal port city, Qingdao enjoys unique advantages in developing modern international trade. Over the past five years, Qingdao has made continuous efforts to build an international shipping trade and financial innovation hub to advance the steady and quality growth of the city's foreign trade.

From January to November this year, the city's foreign trade reached 571.96 billion yuan ($87.57 billion), an increase of 7.5 percent year-on-year. Its exports were 342.59 billion yuan, an increase of 13.1 percent, while imports were 229.37 billion yuan, an increase of 0.2 percent.

It is estimated that the city's imports and exports will reach 620 billion yuan by the end of this year, an increase of about 5 percent and a net increase of about 184 billion yuan over 2015.

During the 13th Five-Year Plan period, Qingdao has more than 20,000 foreign trade enterprises with actual import and export performance, an increase of nearly 5,000 over 2015. The city also has trade contacts with 225 countries and regions.

Cross-border e-commerce has become a new driving force for Qingdao's foreign trade growth. Qingdao, which is a national comprehensive pilot area for cross-border e-commerce, has also managed to leverage this industry to capitalize on opportunities presented by this year's pandemic.

From January to November this year, the import and export of cross-border e-commerce retail in Qingdao increased by 395.3 percent.

Over the past five years, the city's cross-border e-commerce grew at an average annual rate of 50.05 percent, while the number of market players engaged in related businesses increased to more than 6,000.