Tai'an city in East China's Shandong province will step up efforts to construct a more modern, open economy, through deepening reforms and innovation in all aspects of the city's opening-up mechanisms, Mayor Wang Yunpeng said.
Wang made the remark at a meeting regarding the city's opening-up work on Feb 26. Tai’an has witnessed fast development of its economy in recent years, Wang said.
Exports and imports totaled 18.26 billion yuan ($2.92 billion) in 2014, which climbed 18.3 percent compared to the previous year and was 15.4 percentage points higher than Shandong's average. Exports jumped 25.4 percent year-on-year to 10.63 billion yuan while imports rose 9.7 percent to 7.63 billion yuan, resulting in a trade surplus of 3 billion yuan; 96.1 percent higher than a year earlier.
The export of high-tech goods reached 500 million yuan last year, up 19.8 percent from 2013.
Imports and exports between Tai'an and traditional markets, including the US, Europe, Japan and South Korea, rose 5.5 percent in 2014 to 6.96 billion yuan, accounting for 38.1 percent of the city's total.
Trade with emerging markets was also booming, as the value of exports and imports between the city and emerging economies such as the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Brazil, Venezuela and Chile hit 5.05 billion yuan, an increase of 64.5 percent from 2013 to 2014 and taking up 27.7 percent of the city's total.
Wang said Tai'an should actively tap into new areas of foreign capital and push ahead with its efforts in developing a more open economy in fields such as logistics, e-commerce, finance, education and culture, medicine and health, child and elderly care, and accounting and auditing.
Tai'an will make innovations in external trade, and speed up construction of a cross-border e-commerce promotion platform to further expand exports through e-commerce transactions, according to Wang.
The city will push forward the construction of industrial parks to attract foreign investments, he added.
"The government itself should continue administrative reforms to forge a fair, standard, efficient and honest environment that adheres to the rule of law to better serve international businesses," he said.
Wang Qian contributed to the story.