Shandong to lead China's push for new growth drivers

Foreign trade, opening-up policy nurtured to reach new heights, Song Mengxing reports.

One of China's first coastal provinces that carried out the opening-up policy, Shandong has always held an open and win-win attitude to welcome friends worldwide in the past four decades, local officials said. It has established 457 foreign sister city relationships and friendly partnerships and expanded its foreign communication and cooperation in the fields of politics, economy, culture, education, technology and sports.

The province in East China has seen year-on-year increase of its foreign trade. Its cargo imports and exports reached 1.78 trillion yuan ($259.47 billion) in 2017, 1,215 times of the amount in 1978.