The port area of the Qingdao section, China (Shandong) Pilot Free Trade Zone [Photo by ZHANG JINGANG/FOR CHINA DAILY]

Qingdao's imports and exports expanded 35.7 percent year-on-year to 773.43 billion yuan ($121.89 billion) in the first 11 months of 2021, Qingdao customs data showed.

The figure marked a 45.4-percent increase from the same period in 2019, according to Qingdao officials.

From January to November, Qingdao's imports and exports of general trade reached 523.06 billion yuan, up 32.5 percent, accounting for 67.6 percent of the city's total.

During the same period, imports and exports of bonded logistics reached 115.46 billion yuan, up 71.4 percent, while imports and exports of processing trade totaled 109.69 billion yuan, up 9.2 percent.

Private enterprises continued to dominate the city's foreign trade, with imports and exports totaling 515.99 billion yuan, up 39.1 percent year-on-year, accounting for 66.7 percent of the city's total.

Over this period, imports and exports of foreign-invested enterprises reached 158.93 billion yuan, up 19.6 percent, while imports and exports of State-owned enterprises reached 97.17 billion yuan, up 51 percent.

In the first 11 months, the imports and exports of Qingdao to ASEAN, the United States and the European Union, the city's top three trade markets, were 120.92 billion yuan, 90.48 billion yuan and 89.13 billion yuan, up 49.2 percent, 33.6 percent and 19.9 percent respectively.

Its imports and exports to South Korea, Japan and Brazil increased by 38.3 percent, 15.9 percent and 23.3 percent respectively.

Meanwhile, its trade with countries and regions involved in the Belt and Road Initiative totaled 234.63 billion yuan, up 46.5 percent year-on-year, accounting for 30.3 percent of the city's total.

Its imports and exports to other RCEP members reached 291.98 billion yuan, up 40 percent, accounting for 37.8 percent of the city's total.