Total retail sales of consumer goods in Shandong Province reached 506.79 billion yuan in the first quarter, exceeding 500 billion yuan for the first time in provincial history and achieving a growth rate of 12.8%, 0.4 percent above national level.

Viewed respectively from urban and rural market, the urban market saw growth levels of 12.7%, reaching 406.69 billion yuan, and total retail sales of consumer goods in the rural market reached to 100.11 billion yuan, growing by 13.2%. This stands as the first time in eight years that the rural market grew faster than urban market, from which we can see the consumer potential in rural markets is growing rapidly.

Foreign trade is also on the rebound. Positive changes have been noticed in export commodity structures.