Countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative have taken on an increasingly important role in Shandong's import and export sectors in the past five years.

The total value of imports and exports between Shandong and countries along the Belt and Road has now grown to 2.1 trillion yuan ($306.27 billion), growing from 404.45 billion yuan in 2013 to 481.63 billion yuan in 2017. Shandong's 2017 B&R trade value constituted 27 percent of the province's total imports and exports that year, up 2.6 percent compared with the ratio in 2013.

Apart from the increasing volume, Shandong's trade with Belt and Road countries has experienced great changes in trade methods, importers and exporters, and import and export commodities.

The private sector proved particularly significant in B&R trade. In 2013, the import and export volume of trade along the route by private companies was 239.08 billion yuan while the number came to 336.78 billion yuan in 2017, a growth of 40.9 percent. Private enterprises accounted for 69.6 percent of the province's total Belt and Road trade volume in the four-year period.

Shandong's foreign trade with Belt and Road countries focused on general trade, with the volume exceeding 325 billion yuan in 2017 and occupying 67.2 percent of the total imports and exports that year. The value of imports and exports based on bonded logistics topped 56.98 billion yuan, rising 21.1 percent from 2013.

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has become the top trade partner and imports and exports to Russia have enjoyed a huge surge. In 2017, the import and export value between Shandong and ASEAN amounted to 215.97 billion yuan, 44.6 percent of the province’s total Belt and Road trade. Trade between Shandong and Russia climbed 51.9 percent to 73.63 billion yuan.

Electromechanical, agricultural and traditional labor intensive products were the main exports. Machinery and steel products were also prominent. Electromechanical exports reached 99.16 billion yuan last year, accounting for 37.1 percent of total exports to Belt and Road countries. Exports of agricultural and labor intensive products came to 30.83 billion yuan and 29.3 billion yuan, respectively. Machinery exports spiked 69.7 percent to 46.99 billion yuan while steel exports soared 63.4 percent to 24.19 billion yuan in 2017.

Meanwhile, crude oil imports saw obvious rises. In 2017, Shandong imported 78.63 billion yuan worth of crude oil, 36.2 percent of total imports in the period and 12.8 times the figure for 2013.

The province also witnessed rapid growth in electromechanical and integrated circuit imports. The electromechanical import volume was 31.94 billion yuan in 2017, an increase of 120 percent compared with that of 2013. Imports on integrated circuits totaled 11.65 billion yuan, up 95.7 percent.