Opening up

In ancient China, Shandong served as a major supplier for export trade, a pivotal gateway in northern China for external exchanges, and an important transportation hub of the "Land Silk Road" and "Maritime Silk Road," thus playing a vital role in the origin and development of the Silk Road.

As the bridgehead of the New Eurasian Land Bridge, basically overlapping the ancient Silk Road, Shandong is linked through the Silk Road Economic Belt with the energetic Asia-Pacific region to the east, the resourceful Central Asia in the middle, and the developed European economies to the west. Over 40 countries and regions along the Silk Road enjoy economic partnerships and have great potential for win-win cooperation. Shandong has developed economic and trade relations with over 230 countries and regions across the world, and established sister-city and friendship-city ties with 699 overseas cities.

The giant port operator Shandong Port Group, or SPG, reported that its cargo throughput exceeded 1.6 billion metric tons in 2022, the most in the world and a 6.4 percent year-on-year increase. It also handled a total container throughput of 37 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent units), the third most in the world, representing an 8.7 percent increase year-on-year.

In 2024, the total value of Shandong's foreign trade reached a record high of 3.38 trillion yuan ($463 billion), a new high, with a year-on-year growth of 3.5 percent, according to official statistics.

Last year, the province's total exports amounted to 2.08 trillion yuan, up 7.1 percent year-on-year, while its imports stood at 1.3 trillion yuan.