On October 21, 2026, the Information Office of the People's Government of Shandong Province held a press conference to introduce the import and export situation of Shandong Province's foreign trade in the first three quarters of 2026.

Xin Yang, Deputy Director of Jinan Customs, stated that since the beginning of this year, Shandong's foreign trade has effectively responded to various external shocks and challenges, and the scale of imports and exports has steadily expanded, with a positive growth trend and an optimized structure. In the first three quarters, the total import and export value of Shandong reached 2.75 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 4.8%. Among them, exports amounted to 1.66 trillion yuan, an increase of 3.4%; Imports amounted to 1.09 trillion yuan, an increase of 6.8%.

The scale of foreign trade has reached a new high, and private enterprises play a key supporting role. In the first three quarters, Shandong's import and export, export, and import scale all reached new historical highs, with monthly imports and exports exceeding 300 billion yuan for seven consecutive months, and the growth momentum continued to consolidate. The driving force of foreign trade growth cannot be separated from the continuous stimulation of market entities' vitality. In the first three quarters, there were 82000 enterprises with import and export performance in Shandong, an increase of about 8700 compared to the same period last year, including 77000 private enterprises, with an import and export volume of 2.1 trillion yuan, an increase of 6%, which increased the overall growth rate by 4.5 percentage points and accounted for 76.6% of the province's total import and export value.

Multidimensional expansion of market territory, with emerging markets contributing more incremental growth. In the first three quarters, Shandong had 244 countries and regions with trade relations, and 46 partners with bilateral trade volumes exceeding 10 billion yuan, achieving double-digit growth in imports and exports for nearly half of its trading partners. Import and export to countries jointly building the "the Belt and Road" totaled 1.75 trillion yuan, up 4.1%, accounting for 63.8% of the total import and export value. The import and export of the "BRICS" countries reached 1.02 trillion yuan, an increase of 9.5%, which boosted the overall growth rate by 3.4 percentage points and contributed the main increment. Imports and exports to emerging markets such as ASEAN, Latin America, and Africa increased by 5%, 4.7%, and 4.1% respectively. New progress has been made in the constructive strategic stability relationship between China and the United States, injecting confidence into bilateral economic and trade cooperation. In the third quarter, imports and exports to the United States increased by 18.7%.

The export structure has been iteratively upgraded, and Shandong's export products have accelerated from expanding in quantity to improving in quality. For example, in the automotive industry, China National Heavy Duty Truck Group has launched customized heavy-duty trucks for Central Asia and the Middle East, expanding its business through overseas KD assembly bases. In the first three quarters, the province's automobile exports reached 68.43 billion yuan, an increase of 46.2%. In the field of new energy, the international competitiveness of "Shandong Green Manufacturing" continues to strengthen. The export of "new three types" products reached 14.65 billion yuan, an increase of 40.9%. Among them, electric vehicles, lithium batteries, and photovoltaic products increased by 27.9%, 63.2%, and 52.4% respectively.

The export product matrix of Shandong's equipment manufacturing industry is rich, showing a good trend of stable quantity and quality improvement. In the first three quarters, the export of equipment manufacturing industry in the province reached 669.45 billion yuan, an increase of 4.3%, accounting for 40.5% of the province's total export value. Among them, the export of commercial vehicles has been ranked first in the country for several consecutive years, with an export value of 53.95 billion yuan, an increase of 39.9%, accounting for about a quarter of the export value of similar goods in the country. The development of the artificial intelligence industry has driven the export of storage components and computer accessories to increase by 3.2 times and 2.7 times respectively.

Xin Yang stated that currently, there are still many unpredictable factors in the unstable international environment, frequent geopolitical conflicts, the rise of trade protectionism and unilateralism, and the development of foreign trade still faces many challenges. However, the performance report of the province's foreign trade in the first three quarters shows that Shandong's import and export growth is confident and vigorous. Next, the customs will continuously improve their regulatory efficiency and service level, intensify efforts to promote cross-border trade facilitation, and make every effort to enhance the quality and efficiency of Shandong's foreign trade development.

(Author Wang Hui)