Yantai, also known as Chefoo, city in eastern China, in Shandong Province, a deepwater port on Bo Hai gulf, on northern Shandong Peninsula. Major economic activities include fishing, food processing, and the manufacture of iron and steel and machinery. Yantai was opened as a treaty port in 1863. The Yantai Convention, opening additional Chinese ports to foreign trade, was signed here in 1876. The city's importance declined after 1898, when Qingdao was developed as a port. A railroad linking Yantai and Qingdao was built in the 1950s, and an iron and steel complex was built here in the 1960s. Population (1991) 408,538.
