The eastern hub of Qingdao, Shandong province saw its foreign trade up 39.3 percent in the first seven months of 2021, reaching 473.64 billion yuan ($73.08 billion) and accounting for 29.8 percent of Shandong's total foreign trade, said Qingdao Customs on Aug 11.

Containers are loaded onto a ship berthed at Qingdao Port, Shandong province. [Photo by Zhang Jingang/For China Daily]

During the period, the city's exports reached 265.6 billion yuan, up 34 percent year-on-year and 41.5 percent higher than the same period in 2019, while its imports stood at 208.04 billion yuan, up 46.8 percent year-on-year and an increase of 43.4 percent compared with the same period in 2019.

In July, Qingdao's import and export volume reached 75.87 billion yuan, up 37.3 percent year-on-year. Its exports reached 46.26 billion yuan, up 48.2 percent year-on-year, while its imports reached 29.61 billion yuan, up 23.2 percent.

In the first seven months, the general trade import and export of Qingdao reached 323.27 billion yuan, up 39.1 percent year-on-year and accounting for 68.3 percent of the city's total foreign trade value.

The import and export of processing trade reached 69.64 billion yuan, up 14.4 percent and accounting for 14.7 percent of the city's total.

Its import and export of bonded logistics reached 65.46 billion yuan, up 57 percent year-on-year, accounting for 13.8 percent of the city's total.

During this period, the import and export of private enterprises in Qingdao reached 316.96 billion yuan, up 45.7 percent and accounting for 66.9 percent of the city's total foreign trade value.

The import and export of foreign-invested enterprises reached 99.24 billion yuan, up 22.5 percent, while the import and export of State-owned enterprises reached 56.35 billion yuan, up 39.9 percent.

In the first seven months, Qingdao's import and export to ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), EU and the United States, the top three trade markets, reached 76.99 billion yuan, 57.39 billion yuan and 54.37 billion yuan respectively, up 66.5 percent, 26.4 percent and 42.8 percent respectively.

Qingdao's imports and exports to South Korea, Japan and Brazil increased by 34.1 percent, 17.4 percent and 29.4 percent respectively.

Qingdao's trade with countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative reached 147.83 billion yuan, up 56 percent and accounting for 31.2 percent of the city's total.

Its imports and exports to RCEP members reached 181.24 billion yuan, up 46.8 percent and accounting for 38.3 percent of the city's total.