Jinan Innovation Zone, Shandong province [Photo/WeChat account: jngxwx]

Imports and exports in the Jinan Innovation Zone saw tremendous growth in the first two months of this year.

The value of foreign trade hit 8.6 billion yuan ($1.2 billion), up 27.3 percent and accounting for over half of all investment for the first time in the zone's history. The growth rate was 2.8 times higher than the average in Jinan.

Amid the epidemic, the zone is working to help local companies, including Qilu Pharmaceutical Group, resume production.

As of the end of February, more than 96 percent of foreign trade enterprises in the zone had resumed operations, and as of mid-March, an additional 51 foreign trade companies had set up operations there and five project deals had been signed.

In recent years, the Jinan Innovation Zone has been developing foreign trade industries and has built comprehensive service platforms to provide customized and high-quality one-stop services related to marketing, promotion, and logistics for export-oriented industries in the area.

There are currently over 800 foreign trade enterprises in the high-tech zone, and the export of self-owned brand products accounts for more than 80 percent of all exports, which have helped inject new vitality into regional development and fueled the area's efforts to shift from old growth drivers to new ones.

In the future, the zone plans to promote high-quality development, develop an export-oriented economy, and aim to become a world-class innovation zone.