General

On the morning of May 5th, at the press conference series "Counting Shandong to See Development", officials from Jinan Customs and Qingdao Customs introduced the development of foreign trade in Shandong Province in the first quarter.

Since the beginning of this year, Shandong Province has adhered to the principle of stability and seeking progress while maintaining stability. The economy has shown a recovery trend, and foreign trade imports and exports have started steadily with increasing warmth. According to import and export data from Jinan and Qingdao Customs, in the first quarter, the province achieved RMB 764.62 billion in import and export of goods, an increase of 7.7% compared to the same period last year (the same below), and an increase of 0.2 percentage points in the proportion of China's total import and export value. Among them, exports reached 459.28 billion yuan, an increase of 12.3%; Import reached 305.34 billion yuan, an increase of 1.4%; The trade surplus was 153.94 billion yuan, an increase of 42.5%.

12 cities achieved positive growth in import and export

According to import and export data, in the first quarter, 12 cities in the province achieved positive growth in import and export. Qingdao, Yantai, and Weifang continued to maintain the first tier of import and export in the province, achieving import and export values of 207.54 billion, 101.4 billion, and 83.59 billion yuan, respectively, accounting for 51.3% of the total import and export value of the province. The import and export growth rates of Tai'an, Zaozhuang, Linyi, and Rizhao all exceeded 40%, reaching 47.5%, 45.8%, 45.3%, and 40% respectively.

Further enhancement of emerging market position

In the first quarter, the total import and export value of ASEAN reached 145.93 billion, making it the largest trading partner of our province. Our province's growth rate in Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe, Central Asia, North Africa and other regions has exceeded 20%, and the position of emerging markets in our province's trade development has significantly improved. Over the same period, the province's import and export to countries along the "the Belt and Road" reached 315.46 billion yuan, an increase of 27.2%, accounting for 41.3% of Shandong's total foreign trade value over the same period, 6.3 percentage points higher than that of the same period last year; The import and export of other RCEP member countries reached 290.82 billion yuan, an increase of 14.3%, accounting for 38% of the total import and export value of Shandong Province, with an increase of 2.2 percentage points.

Further acceleration of the development of new trade formats

Import and export data shows that in the first quarter, the new trade format in Shandong Province continued to maintain a good development momentum, with cross-border e-commerce imports and exports reaching 79.9 billion yuan, an increase of 71.7%, accounting for 10.4% of the province's import and export value, and an increase of 3.9 percentage points compared to the same period last year. In addition, exports through market procurement amounted to 13.45 billion yuan, an increase of 24.7%. The growth rate of new trade formats is significantly faster than the overall growth rate of the province.

Further recovery of processing trade imports and exports

In the first quarter, Shandong Province imported and exported 500.75 billion yuan through general trade, an increase of 5.3%, accounting for 65.5% of the province's import and export value; Import and export through processing trade amounted to 124.7 billion yuan, an increase of 18.8%, accounting for 16.3%, making it the fastest growing trade mode in Shandong Province. During the same period, the import and export through bonded logistics amounted to 124.05 billion yuan, an increase of 6.6%, accounting for 16.2%.

Further optimization of export product structure

Driven by the growth of exports of integrated circuits, automobiles and other products, import and export data shows that in the first quarter, Shandong Province exported 217.25 billion yuan of mechanical and electrical products, an increase of 26.7%, accounting for 47.3% of the province's export value, and an increase of 5.4 percentage points; The export of traditional advantageous products has shown a trend of stable quantity and quality increase, with labor intensive products exporting 83.2 billion yuan and agricultural products exporting 33.11 billion yuan, ranking 6th and 1st in the country, with growth rates of 7.7% and 5.9% respectively. The average export prices of furniture and its parts, aquatic products, and toys have increased by 41.6%, 11%, and 22.7%, respectively.

Further improvement of import and export environment

In terms of exports, the impact of the epidemic has significantly subsided, and the backlog of orders in the early stage of exports has gradually recovered. The export growth rates in the first quarter and three months were -1.2%, 19.4%, and 22.1%, respectively, increasing month by month. Especially with the accelerated pace of resuming work and production after the Spring Festival, the export of labor-intensive products increased significantly by 18.3% in March. In terms of imports, the demand has increased significantly. Imports of means of production and consumer goods have increased. In the first quarter, the import volume of the province increased by 7.9%. From the perspective of specific commodities, the import volume of crude oil, soybeans, meat and aquatic products increased by 15%, 19.1%, 20.2% and 9.7% respectively.

Further consolidating the dominant position of private enterprises

Private enterprises achieved an import and export value of 566.51 billion yuan in the first quarter, an increase of 12%, driving the province's foreign trade growth by 8.5 percentage points, accounting for 74.1% of the province's import and export value, and increasing the proportion by 2.9 percentage points. During the same period, foreign-invested enterprises imported and exported 140.44 billion yuan, accounting for 18.4%; The import and export of state-owned enterprises amounted to 57.48 billion yuan, accounting for 7.5%. According to customs statistics, as of 2022, the proportion of imports and exports of private enterprises in Shandong Province to total foreign trade has exceeded 70% for two consecutive years. The main manifestations are:

One is the prominent role of stabilizing foreign trade and growth. In the first quarter, the import and export growth rate of private enterprises in Shandong Province reached 12%, 4.3 percentage points higher than the overall growth rate of foreign trade in the province, driving the growth of foreign trade import and export in the province by 8.5 percentage points; Among them, exports reached 343.92 billion yuan, an increase of 15.8%, while imports reached 222.59 billion yuan, an increase of 6.5%. The growth rates of exports and imports were 3.5 and 5.1 percentage points higher than those of the province during the same period, respectively.

Secondly, the leading role of foreign trade is obvious. According to import and export data, in the first quarter, there were 43000 private enterprises in Shandong Province with import and export performance, an increase of 2435 compared to the same period last year. Among the 354 customs advanced certification enterprises with import and export performance in the province, 188 are private enterprises, accounting for 53%. Among the top ten foreign trade enterprises in the province, 9 are private enterprises, and among the top 100 enterprises, 61 are private enterprises. Especially in industries such as petrochemical, electronics, and smelting, private enterprises play a prominent leading and driving role.

The third is the strong diversification and development of the market. In the first quarter, the import and export of private enterprises in Shandong Province to countries along the "the Belt and Road" and other RCEP member countries were 259.61 billion yuan and 214.73 billion yuan respectively, up 32% and 20.5% respectively, driving the import and export of the province to the above countries and regions to increase by 25.4 and 14.4 percentage points. During the same period, the proportion of private enterprises in Shandong Province's trade with the European Union and the United States exceeded 60%, with 67.9% and 71.9% respectively.

The fourth is that traditional and high-tech products have their own advantages in export. In the first quarter, private enterprises in Shandong Province exported 143.77 billion yuan of mechanical and electrical products, 73.07 billion yuan of labor-intensive products, and 25.75 billion yuan of agricultural products, respectively, accounting for 66.2%, 87.8%, and 77.8% of the total export value of similar products in Shandong. During the same period, the export of high-tech products increased by 42.1%, driving a growth of 24.9 percentage points in the export of similar products.

The fifth is the significant increase in imports of mechanical and electrical products, consumer goods, and finished oil. According to import and export data, in the first quarter, private enterprises in Shandong's electromechanical and petrochemical industries seized opportunities, actively expanded overseas supply channels, and expanded the supply of related products. Imported electromechanical products amounted to 29.5 billion yuan, an increase of 21.1%; Imported finished oil products reached 7.98 billion yuan, an increase of 277.3%. During the same period, private enterprises also made outstanding contributions to promoting consumption upgrading and expanding consumer goods imports, with consumer goods imports reaching 20.89 billion yuan, an increase of 34.1%.

Overall, Shandong Province's foreign trade has started steadily and made progress. With the continuous overall improvement of China's economic operation, the positive trend of Shandong Province's foreign trade is expected to continue further.