Coastal foreign trade top slot

The port city of Yantai's foreign trade in the first six months of 2009 grew to $13.77 billion, the fastest among the nation's 14 coastal cities open to the outside world.

More than half of the total, some $7.85 billion, was exports, according to Yantai Bureau of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation (BOFTEC).

Yantai's share of Shandong's imports and exports also rose for consecutive months from 19.7 percent in January to 26.1 percent in June.