Dynamic site of SCO Summit illustrates benefits of trade

East China's Shandong province is going all out to support this year's summit of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, which takes place in the coastal city of Qingdao on June 9 and 10.

Provincial officials expect the meeting to strengthen trade ties between Shandong and member nations in the SCO, a political, economic and military group comprising eight countries. The organization, created in 2001, has expanded last year to include India and Pakistan.

Shandong is ideally positioned to boost trade ties, especially in light of the China-inspired Belt and Road Initiative. The province, sits at the intersection of the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, has already achieved outstanding results in promoting cultural and economic exchanges and people-to-people communications.

The summit, officials said, will be an opportunity to review the "Shanghai Spirit", strengthening solidarity, mutual trust and all-round cooperation, and forging a closer community with a shared future among the SCO nations, which are Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, India and Pakistan.

"The Shanghai Cooperation Organization Summit is an important diplomatic gathering held in China. Shandong will spare no efforts in providing quality services and support," said Liu Jiayi, Party chief of Shandong province. "Shandong will continue to boost the opening-up by taking advantage from this summit."

Statistics from the Department of Commerce of Shandong province show that the trade volume between Shandong and SCO member countries reached 118.6 billion yuan ($18.72 billion) in 2017, of which exports were 68.2 billion yuan and imports were 50.4 billion yuan. Direct investment from SCO members, mainly Russia and India, hit 1.25 billion yuan in 2017. Shandong's direct investment in SCO countries was 440 million yuan in 2017.

The positive trend continued in the first quarter of 2018, with the import and export volume between Shandong and SCO countries reaching 28.7 billion yuan. The import volume was 14 billion yuan. Shandong's direct investment in SCO countries was 30 million yuan.

She Chunming, head of the Department of Commerce in Shandong province, said that the economies of Shandong and SCO countries are mutually complementary, which is a key reason for the strengthened trade ties.

According to local authorities, cooperation in the energy sector plays an especially important role in supporting trade between Shandong and SCO countries.

Shandong, home to many refineries, has a growing demand for natural gas and crude oil. Businesses in Shandong imported crude oil valued at 10.03 billion yuan from SCO countries in Q1 this year, up 25.6 percent year-on-year, according to authorities.

Shandong, a traditional agriculture-supply hub in China, also serves an important role in helping some SCO countries, which have modest number of crops, to expand their agricultural products offerings.

Farmers in Daotian town in Shouguang, Weifang, have established an association to manage vegetable exports and related matters. Each year, about one-fourth of the whole vegetable output from Daotian is exported to Russia.

Xisen Potato Industry Group in Dezhou was assigned to cultivate new varieties of potatoes for Kazakhstan. The company said that some varieties have been planted in Kazakhstan for one year and are set to be promoted in the country soon.