East China's coastal province of Shandong, which ranks third in the country in terms of GDP, will take measures to improve the mix of its export commodities to secure a larger share of the international market.

An official with the provincial government said that advanced technology and managerial expertise will be introduced from abroadto accelerate the effort.

International quality standards will be widely employed in the province's traditional industries of paper-making, textiles, building materials, and ceramics.

Priority will be given to creating some eight famous brands fortextiles and garments, the official said.

The province will also upgrade the fine processing of farm produce, poultry and aquatic products to reduce exports of raw farm produce, the official added.

Shandong's 1999 export and import volume reached 18.1 billion U.S. dollars, up 8.8 percent over 1998, according to statistics.