JINAN, Oct. 4 (Xinhua) -- The foreign trade volume of east China's Shandong Province with African countries rose 7.4 percent year on year to 120.9 billion yuan (about 17.1 billion U.S. dollars) in the first eight months of the year.

According to the provincial department of commerce, Shandong's export to African countries totaled 45.7 billion yuan, up 15.2 percent year on year, while its import increased 3.1 percent to 75.1 billion yuan during Jan.-Aug. period.

The province saw a total of 28 investment projects from African countries including Niger, Ghana and Mauritius. Actual use of foreign investment was 48 million U.S. dollars, a 3.8 percent increase compared with the same period of last year. Shandong's actual investment in African countries was 13.9 million U.S. dollars.