The foreign trade in Yantai, East China's Shandong province surged 55.9 percent to 240.4 billion yuan ($37.12 billion) in the first seven months of this year, local media reported.

The total volume and growth rate during the period both ranked second in the province. Its growth rate was 31.4 percent and 15.8 percent higher than that of the whole country and the province respectively.

The city's general trade rose by 29.8 percent to 105.65 billion yuan, accounting for 43.9 percent of the city's total. The imports and exports of processing trade increased by 69.5 percent, reaching 79.78 billion yuan and accounting for 33.2 percent of the city's total. The imports and exports of bonded logistics grew by 64.4 percent to 40.69 billion yuan.

The imports and exports of 100 enterprises under monitoring is expected to reach 161 billion yuan, an increase of 54 percent year-on-year, driving the foreign trade growth of the city by 36.5 percent.

The cross-border e-commerce industry saw rapid development in the city from January to July. The industry's imports and exports exceeded 7.5 billion yuan, more than four times of the volume than last year.

The Cross-border E-commerce Industry Alliance and the Yantai Cross-border E-commerce Association were also established. Cross-border e-commerce industrial cluster areas have been set up in nine districts and county-level cities in Yantai.