The growth in agricultural and meat products' exported from Qingdao fell to 1.9 percent in October from a monthly average of 15 percent in the first nine months of the year.

The figure is important because Qingdao is a major port in the country's largest agricultural product exporting province of Shandong.

The export growth of agricultural products from Yantai, another big port in Shandong, dropped from 12 percent in September to 3.2 percent in October. Yantai's exports to the US grew by only 3.6 percent in October, compared with 27 percent in August.

Companies in Guangzhou exported only 38 tons of frozen fish in October, down 64 percent year-on-year. And poultry exports from the city dropped 63 percent to 106,550 pieces, local Customs figures showed.

"The tainted-milk scandal has dealt a heavy blow to the 'made-in-China' label, and the global financial crisis has worsened the situation," said Zhao Xinzhi, an official with the Yantai foreign trade and economics bureau.