On October 16, the Information Office of the Shandong Provincial Government held a series of press conferences with the theme of "Numbers and Shandong's Development", inviting responsible comrades from Qingdao Customs and Jinan Customs to introduce Shandong Province's foreign trade import and export situation in the first three quarters of 2025.

The reporter learned from the press conference that the “One Belt, One Road” initiative has become the most extensive and largest international cooperation platform in the world today. Since this year, Shandong has seized the cooperation opportunities of the “Belt and Road Initiative”, solidly promoted trade cooperation with co-building countries, continued to improve the diversification level of the foreign trade market, and promoted the high-quality development of the province’s export-oriented economy. According to customs statistics, in the first three quarters, Shandong's imports and exports to countries co-building the "Belt and Road" were 1.68 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 9.2%, 3.7 percentage points higher than the province's overall growth rate, accounting for 64.2% of the province's total import and export value, an increase of 2.2 percentage points year-on-year. Among them, exports were 917.35 billion yuan, an increase of 10.1%; imports were 762.33 billion yuan, an increase of 8.2%.

The "circle of friends" continues to expand, providing stable support for import and export. The current international trade situation is complex and uncertain. my country's friendly relations and mutually beneficial cooperation with countries co-building the "Belt and Road" provide important support for the stable development of Shandong's foreign trade. In the first three quarters, Shandong Province's import and export with co-building countries achieved an increase of 141.89 billion yuan, driving the province's import and export growth by 5.7 percentage points, effectively hedging the impact of additional tariffs imposed by the United States. During the same period, imports and exports to 128 co-building countries achieved growth, 34 more than the same period last year, and 109 of them achieved double-digit growth. The growth rates of imports and exports to co-building countries in Latin America, Africa, and Central Asia reached 15.5%, 44.1%, and 53.5% respectively.

The participation of foreign trade entities has increased, and the vitality of private enterprises has continued to be released. In the first three quarters, the number of foreign trade companies in Shandong Province with import and export performance to the co-building countries reached 58,200, an increase of 9.8%, and the number has exceeded the total last year. Among them, there were 53,800 private enterprises, an increase of 10.6%, and the import and export value reached 1.31 trillion yuan, an increase of 10.8%, which was 1.6 percentage points higher than the overall growth rate of the co-building countries, accounting for 77.9%. As the most dynamic market entity, the trade footprint of private enterprises has spread to more than 150 co-building countries, of which 21 countries have import and export values ​​exceeding 10 billion yuan, making an irreplaceable and important contribution to Shandong's deepening of market cooperation with the "Belt and Road" initiative.

Imports of major commodities have shown good growth momentum, effectively meeting domestic demand. In the first three quarters, Shandong Province imported 544.19 billion yuan of 16 types of commodities from the co-founding countries, an increase of 8.9%, accounting for 71.4% of the total import value from the co-founding countries and 84.8% of the province's bulk commodity import value. Among them, crude oil, iron ore, copper ore, aluminum ore, and natural rubber increased by 11.2%, 19.2%, 22.7%, 72.7%, and 23.4% respectively. During the same period, imports of integrated circuits increased by 7.9%, and imports of automatic data processing equipment and their parts increased by 10.5%. The import channels for major commodities are smooth and have good growth potential, which is of great significance to ensuring stable supply in the domestic market and meeting the needs of downstream industries.

The fundamentals of exports are solid, and foreign industrial cooperation has effectively boosted exports. In the first three quarters, Shandong Province exported 452.32 billion yuan of mechanical and electrical products to co-building countries, an increase of 15.1%, accounting for 49.3% of the total export value to co-building countries in the same period. The exports of Laomi products, agricultural products, steel products, and basic organic chemicals all maintained steady growth, accounting for 30.8% of the total export value. It is worth noting that among Shandong’s exports to co-building countries, intermediate product exports accounted for 50.8%, with an increase of 10.9%. Among them, the export value of steel products, textile fabrics, engineering machinery parts, aircraft and ship parts, and integrated circuits all achieved double-digit growth, indicating that external industrial radiation has become an important focus for Shandong and co-building countries to enhance trade cooperation.

The "new content" of exports has increased, and foreign trade highlights continue to emerge. In the first three quarters, Shandong Province's exports of high-tech products to co-building countries increased by 15.1%, and exports of electronic components, game consoles, electric vehicles, and lithium-ion batteries increased by 22.3%, 102.8%, 133.9%, and 81.1% respectively. Recently, Shandong Province's export of high-end equipment to the co-building country has become a highlight. In August and September, Yantai completed the export of a "production oil storage ship" and a "floating natural gas production unit" respectively, with unit prices as high as 4.54 billion yuan and 4.12 billion yuan respectively. This highlighted the outstanding design and production capabilities of Shandong's key foreign trade enterprises and provided strong support for the energy development of the co-building country.

It is reported that Shandong's import and export value to the co-building countries has increased from less than 850 billion yuan in 2013 to 2.1 trillion yuan in 2024. The scope of cooperation between the two parties continues to expand and the level of cooperation continues to increase. The annual trade volume is expected to reach a new high.

In the next step, Qingdao Customs and Jinan Customs will take the eight actions of high-quality joint construction of the "Belt and Road" as a guide, continue to deepen reform and innovation, optimize the port business environment, improve the level of cross-border trade facilitation, and continue to contribute customs efforts to promote economic and trade cooperation between Shandong and co-building countries to a higher level!