Foreign trade in Jinan, Shandong province hit 103.54 billion yuan ($15.98 billion) in the first seven months of this year, up 30.1 percent year-on-year, Jinan municipal customs reported.

General trade continued to dominate the city's foreign trade during this period, rising by 36.2 percent to 92.14 billion yuan and accounting for 89 percent of the city's total.

Private enterprises also led in imports and exports in Jinan, with the figure totaling 64.94 billion yuan and accounting for 62.7 percent of the city's total.

The city’s imports and exports to countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative stood at 35.38 billion yuan, up 33.2 percent, while the city’s foreign trade with ASEAN countries and the European Union (excluding the UK) were valued at 18.6 billion yuan and 11.4 billion yuan, respectively, up 22.6 percent and 10 percent, respectively.

Jinan, as an inland city, has witnessed a substantial increase in foreign trade. One of the reasons is that the city is making efforts to expand new international logistics channels and improve the quality of international logistics services.

During this period, the city's Eurasian train service developed rapidly. From January to July, Eurasian trains saw 430 trips, up 23.7 percent, while the value of imports and exports delivered by the Eurasian trains totaled 4.25 billion yuan, up 46.6 percent.