E. China province reports double-digit rise in foreign trade to EU

East China's Shandong Province did 5.72 billion US dollars worth of foreign trade with European Union (EU) in the first nine months of the year, up 36.2 percent from the same period last year.

EU has become the fourth largest trade partner of this eastern Chinese province after the Republic of Korea (ROK), Japan and the United States, shows the information from the Customshouse of Qingdao, a port city in the province.

The figures broke down into the imports of 1.9 billion US dollars, a year-on-year rise of 32.2 percent, and the exports of 3.82 billion dollars, up 38.3 percent, according to the customs.

Shandong's exports to EU included mechanical and electrical products, garments and apparel accessories and aquatic products, while EU exported 1.19 billion dollars worth of mechanical and electrical products to Shandong from January to September.

Overseas-funded companies, state- and collectively-owned firms in Shandong, one of the country's economic powerhouses, have remained to be key foreign trade players, according to the customs.