In 2026, facing a complex and ever-changing external environment, Shandong's foreign trade imports and exports will maintain strong resilience, showing a good development trend of stable scale and continuous structural optimization. "At a press conference held by the Information Office of the Shandong Provincial People's Government on July 20, Xin Yang, Deputy Director of Jinan Customs, said.

According to customs statistics, in the first half of 2026, Shandong Province's foreign trade imports and exports amounted to 1.80692 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 4.4%, ranking fifth in the country in terms of scale. Among them, exports amounted to 1071.49 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 1.9%; Imports amounted to 735.43 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 8.2%.

In the first half of the year, Shandong's import and export, export, and import scale all reached a new historical high for the same period. From a monthly perspective, the growth rate of imports and exports accelerated month by month in April, May, and June. In June, exports reached 216.24 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 14.9%, and the scale reached a historical high in monthly exports. Foreign trade markets have played a pivotal role, with Qingdao, Yantai, Weifang, Jinan, and Dongying, the top five in terms of import and export scale, growing by 5.7%, 6.5%, 9%, 27%, and 14.8% year-on-year, respectively.

The steady and positive development of foreign trade is driven by the hard work and perseverance of 74000 foreign trade enterprises. In the first half of the year, the number of enterprises with import and export performance in Shandong increased by more than 8000 compared to the same period last year, among which private enterprises reached 69000, achieving import and export of 1.4 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 6%, and accounting for 77.3% of the province's total. The role of foreign trade as a "ballast stone" has become more prominent.

Shi Yong, Deputy Director of Qingdao Customs, stated that recent high temperatures worldwide have accelerated the export of "cool" household appliances such as air conditioners, refrigerators, and electric fans. In the second quarter, the export value of these products in Shandong reached 5.23 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 8.8% and a historic high.

In June, many places in Western Europe experienced extreme heat waves, and the export growth rates of refrigerators and air conditioners in Shandong increased to 38.8% and 69.1% year-on-year, respectively. Among them, exports of refrigerators and air conditioners to Western Europe increased by 59% and 126% respectively year-on-year.

Recently, the difficulty in finding a single air conditioner in Western Europe has become a focus of attention from all walks of life, with some second-hand air conditioners even skyrocketing in price to several times that of new ones. Leading enterprises in Shandong have launched high-efficiency, energy-saving, hole free, and easy to install products tailored to the unique national conditions of Western Europe. These products were sold out during the heat wave, effectively driving the rapid growth of exports in recent times.

Shi Yong introduced that the key to Shandong's ability to seize fleeting market opportunities lies in its industrial strength. The home appliance industry in Shandong has multiple world-class enterprises, complete upstream and downstream industrial chains, and strong market competitiveness. It is in a leading position globally in the fields of smart home appliances, ultra high definition displays, laser TVs, and more. For a long time, by actively expanding overseas marketing networks and sponsoring large-scale sports events, the brand influence has also been significantly enhanced. We believe that in the future, 'Made in Shandong' will continue to provide high-quality products for the global market, while boosting domestic consumption and accurately adapting to the diversified needs of overseas consumers.

(Author Wang Hui)