Information from Qingdao Customs indicates that the city's total imports and exports reached 368.52 billion yuan in the first five months of 2025, marking a 3.4% year-on-year increase and accounting for 25.9% of Shandong Province's total trade. Exports rose 8% to 221.06 billion yuan while imports declined 2.9% to 147.46 billion.
Qingdao's foreign trade structure became more diversified in the first five months with general trade up by 0.1%, totaling 241.93 billion yuan and accounting for 65.6% of the city's total trade. Bonded logistics rose 9.1% to 59.83 billion yuan, making up 16.2%, while processing trade increased 7.5% to 58.75 billion yuan, accounting for 15.9%.
Private and state-owned enterprises continued to drive trade growth. Private companies recorded 261.09 billion yuan in imports and exports, up 6.7%, accounting for 70.8% of the city’s total—an increase of 2.2 percentage points. Over the same period, state-owned enterprises posted 47.17 billion yuan, a 15.5% increase, representing 12.8% of the total.
Trade with ASEAN countries, South Korea, and Russia continued to grow. Trade with ASEAN countries reached 58.68 billion yuan, up 1.4%; with South Korea, 25.91 billion yuan, up 1.8%; and with Russia, 23.6 billion yuan, marking a strong 35.5% increase. Additionally, trade with Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) partner countries totaled 217.16 billion yuan, up 9.3%, accounting for 58.9% of Qingdao's total trade.
Exports of electromechanical, labor-intensive, and agricultural products all saw steady growth. Electromechanical product exports reached 113.87 billion yuan, up 10.1%, accounting for 51.5% of total exports. Within this category, household appliances totaled 17.05 billion yuan (up 5.1%), auto parts 10.17 billion yuan (up 8.1%), containers 8.94 billion yuan (up 23.7%), and general-purpose machinery 8.58 billion yuan (up 23.6%). Labor-intensive goods exports stood at 33.32 billion, a modest 0.5% increase, making up 15.1% of total exports. Agricultural product exports reached 19.67 billion, up 3.7%, accounting for 8.9%.
Imports of crude oil and metal ores continued to rise. Crude oil imports reached 6.511 million tons, up 18%, with a value of 24.49 billion yuan, a 1.7% increase, accounting for 16.6% of total imports. Imports of metal ores and concentrates totaled 25.73 million tons, valued at 21.5 billion yuan, up 3.3%, representing 14.6%. Imports of electromechanical products amounted to 22.71 billion yuan, accounting for 15.4% of the total. Within this segment, electronic components rose 29.8% to 4.53 billion yuan, and general-purpose machinery surged 47.6% to 4.28 billion yuan.
