Shandong's 2023 foreign trade report card is here: Highlights amidst resilience

Recently, Shandong's foreign trade report card for 2023 was released: the total value of imports and exports throughout the year reached 3.26 trillion RMB, a 1.7% increase year-on-year; exports were 1.94 trillion RMB, up 1.1%; and imports were 1.32 trillion RMB, up 2.7%. The growth rates of imports and exports, exports, and imports all performed better than the national average. Against the backdrop of a more complex global foreign trade situation last year, Shandong's foreign trade demonstrated sufficient resilience in 2023, contributing to the stability of the national foreign trade fundamentals.

An analysis of various situations shows that while Shandong's imports and exports demonstrated resilience last year, highlights frequently emerged.

First, the diversification of trade partners. In 2023, Shandong's trade partners covered more than 230 countries and regions worldwide. Among them, imports and exports with Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) partner countries totaled 1.84 trillion RMB, an increase of 3.3%, accounting for 56.3% of the province's total imports and exports, an increase of 0.8 percentage points. In the decade since the BRI was proposed, Shandong has accelerated its service to the national opening-up strategy, and the favorable situation of mutual benefit and win-win with BRI partner countries has continuously consolidated. In 2023, while consolidating traditional foreign trade markets, Shandong actively explored emerging markets such as ASEAN and Africa, and deeply implemented the 'Hundred Overseas Exhibitions Market Expansion Plan'. Provincial and municipal levels jointly organized over 3,600 enterprises to participate in more than 530 overseas exhibitions, further expanding the 'circle of friends' in foreign trade.

Second, foreign trade entities have shown ample vitality. In 2023, Shandong Province had over 68,000 foreign trade entities with import and export records, an increase of more than 4,000 compared to the previous year. Among them, private enterprises accounted for 62,300 entities, with total imports and exports of 2.42 trillion RMB, a 3.9% increase, accounting for 74.3% of the province's total imports and exports, an increase of 1.6 percentage points, driving the province's growth by 2.8 percentage points, highlighting their role as the main force in foreign trade.

In 2023, facing the impact of various unfavorable factors on foreign trade, Shandong strengthened policy support, focusing on issues such as sluggish external demand and insufficient orders. It researched and introduced 'Several Measures to Promote Stable Scale, Optimized Structure, and High-Quality Development of Foreign Trade and Investment', 'Shandong Province Cross-border E-commerce Leapfrog Development Action Plan (2023-2025)', 'Several Policies to Promote Stable Scale and Optimized Structure of Foreign Trade', and other documents, proposing over 60 specific measures to stabilize the confidence of foreign trade enterprises. The activeness of foreign trade entities, especially private enterprises, confirms that these policy measures have played a positive role.

Third, the rise of new drivers in foreign trade. In 2023, China surpassed Japan to become the world's largest automobile exporter, and new growth drivers represented by the "new three" of foreign trade performed remarkably, becoming new growth points for foreign trade. Shandong has a solid foundation in the automobile manufacturing industry and complete industrial infrastructure, giving it a late-mover advantage in developing the "new three" of foreign trade. In 2023, Shandong's exports of the "new three" products amounted to 9.39 billion RMB, a year-on-year increase of 47.3%.

Looking back at 2023, Shandong's foreign trade import and export scale saw stable growth, and the quality of development improved. Looking ahead to 2024, although the external economic environment still has uncertainties, the trend of China's economic recovery and long-term improvement remains unchanged. Shandong has a solid industrial foundation, and the conversion of old and new growth drivers is continuously deepening, with supporting factors for high-quality development steadily accumulating. In the new year, with the gradual manifestation of policy effects and the steady advancement of high-level opening-up, Shandong's foreign trade fundamentals will be continuously consolidated, and the foundation for stable growth, improved quality, and increased efficiency of imports and exports will be further strengthened.