Shandong sees strong growth in foreign trade in the first 10 months of this year. [Photo/Dazhong News]

Shandong has seen strong growth in foreign trade, with its import and export revenue reaching 2.89 trillion yuan ($406.03 billion) from January to October this year, a 4.7 percent year-on-year increase.

Automotive exports, electronic components, and trade with countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative turn out to be the three major highlights of the province's response to the current international trade environment.

Shandong's auto sector is speeding onto the world stage. In the first 10 months the province, exported vehicles worth 53.22 billion yuan, a 13.5 percent year-on-year increase, with EV shipments surging 117.4 percent. One Qingdao plant now rolls an EV off its automated line every 90 seconds. Commercial vehicles led the charge among exported autos: trucks went up to 43.2 percent, buses rose 42 percent, and special vehicles increased 36 percent.

The same period saw Shandong ship 858.37 billion yuan of machinery and electronics, accounting for nearly half of the province's exports, anchored by a 20 percent jump in electronic components. Weifang-based Goertek's micro-sensors, produced at 10 per second, power global smartphones.

Additionally, Belt and Road markets accounted for 64.2 percent of the province's trade during the first 10 months of the year. A weekly Sino-African liner from Yantai Port moves 200 kinds of cargoes, from wind turbines to trucks, covering every coastal African state.