Shandong’s foreign trade kept a steady growth in the first half of this year, according to Department of Commerce of Shandong Province.

The total import and export amounted to 1.56 trillion yuan, with an increase of 1.8% in the first half year. The exports were 924.9 billion yuan, up 1.9 percent; the imports were 638.07 billion yuan, up 1.7 percent. Among them, the exports of mechanical and electrical products were the largest.

Shandong’s imports and exports to the ASEAN, EU and Russia increased by 8.5 percent, 6.8 percent, and 80.9 percent, respectively. At the same time, the growth rate of imports and exports along the "Belt and Road" countries increased 12 percent.

In terms of foreign capital structure, the high-tech industries surged by 63.9 percent, receiving 3.39 billion U.S. dollars in foreign investment.

During the same period, 1,151 foreign-invested enterprises had been formed, increased 10.3 percent. The actual use of foreign capital amounted to 11.47 billion U.S. dollars.