A mechanical arm is in operation at an automobile manufacturing factory in Qingzhou, Shandong province, Aug 27, 2022. [Photo/IC]

Shandong's actual use of foreign capital increased by 6.5 percent year-on-year to 19.28 billion yuan ($2.68 billion) during the first 10 months of this year, which ranked fourth in the country.

The structure of foreign investment utilization has also been improved, according to Shandong officials.

During this period, the province's actual utilization of foreign capital in the manufacturing industry reached $7.76 billion, up 50.8 percent year-on-year. The actual utilization of Japanese and South Korean capital was $3.39 billion, up 237.3 percent year-on-year, and the actual use of European and US capital was $600 million, up 22.3 percent.

Shandong will steadily expand institutional openness based on rules, regulations, management and standards to provide a more favorable investment and business environment for foreign-funded enterprises and steadily increase the utilization of foreign capital, according to an official from the Shandong Provincial Department of Commerce.

In the first 10 months of this year, Qingdao Customs, Jinan Customs and the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade Shandong Sub-council issued RCEP certificates of origin for 122,000 batches of exports, ranking first in China.

During this period, the province's foreign trade volume reached 2.7 trillion yuan, among which the import and export value of foreign-invested enterprises reached 489.86 billion yuan, which indicates steady growth.