China's major vegetable supplier posts strong trade growth

JINAN, July 22 (Xinhua) -- East China's Shandong Province, the country's main agricultural region, saw foreign trade value of agricultural products topping 108.85 billion yuan (15.8 billion U.S. dollars) in the first half of the year (H1), up 10.5 percent year on year, ranking first in the country.

  The amount accounted for 14.9 percent of China's total import and export value of agricultural products during the period, according to the province's customs.

  Of the total trade, exports reached 56.2 billion yuan, ranking first in the country, up 7.6 percent year on year. Shandong also imported 52.64 billion yuan of agricultural products, an increase of 13.8 percent over the same period of last year.

  Shao Bai, an inspector of Qingdao Customs, said except for a slight decline in February due to China's Spring Festival holiday, trade in the remaining months maintained steady growth. Japan, ASEAN and the EU were the main export markets of Shandong, while Latin American countries and Australia were the province's main import markets.

  Private enterprises were the main force of trade in Shandong, with products ranging from grain, seafood and meat to cotton in imports and from aquatic and seafood to vegetables in exports.

  Shandong is China's largest exporter of vegetables, fruits, water and seafood, while contributing 8 percent of the country's grain output, 9 percent of its meat output, 12 percent of its fruit output, 13 percent of its vegetables output, 14 percent of its aquatic products output and 19 percent of its peanut output.