East China’s Shandong Province saw trade with Belt and Road countries grow 15.4 percent year on year in the first 11 months of 2019, local customs authorities said.

Exports with B&R countries rose 14.1 percent, while imports increased 17 percent, according to statistics from the Qingdao and Jinan Customs.

Shandong’s total foreign trade rose 5.4 percent year on year to 1.84 trillion yuan during the Jan.-Nov. period. Exports in November rose 4.3 percent, ending a three-month streak of annual declines.

Shandong’s exports to its two largest trading partners, the European Union and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, grew 9.4 percent and 13.2 percent, respectively.

Its exports to the Republic of Korea and the United States, however, declined 0.1 percent and 19.2 percent, respectively.