Coastal city leading going-out charge

Outbound projects, investments continue to increase amid opportunities created by the Belt and Road Initiative

Haier's Thailand manufacturing facility serves as an important production center for the Chinese home appliance giant to explore markets in Southeast Asia, South Asia and the Middle East.

Haier acquired the facility, located in Prachinburi, from Japan's Sanyo Electric in 2007 as part of the company's expansion strategy.

"We prefer to regard Haier Thailand as a local company rather than an overseas branch. Such a localization concept can enable us to have a faster response in processing information and better keep track of the local market to design more in-demand products," said Yang Xiaolin, president of Haier Thailand.   

Like Haier, many companies in Qingdao, a coastal city in East China's Shandong province, have implemented a rapid going out strategy and are deeply involved in China's Belt and Road Initiative, in order to globalize their research and development, production and marketing.

SEPCOIII Electric Power Construction signed a contract worth $1.87 billion with Bangladesh in 2015 for the construction of two 660-megawatt coal-fired power plants in the country. This is so far the largest project Qingdao has contracted in countries related to the Belt and Road routes.

CSR Sifang America, a subsidiary of China Railway Stock, secured a $1.3 billion deal in March last year with the Chicago Transit Authority to supply 846 metro vehicles to the city, a record high in China's history of exporting railcars to developed countries.

As a key node city on the Silk Road Economic Belt and the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, Qingdao is making increasingly important contributions to global economic growth and is gaining more influence worldwide.

It has established an economic and trade cooperation database that consists of more than 100 projects with a total investment of $60 billion. It also mapped out 16 overseas economic and trade cooperation zones that are either under construction or in their preparation stages.

In 2016, the import and export volume between Qing-dao and countries and regions along the Belt and Road routes reached $33.83 billion, accounting for 51.3 percent of the city's total foreign trade volume.

Qingdao companies based 661 projects in 47 countries and regions relating to the Belt and Road Initiative last year. The total related investment hit $6.16 billion, accounting for 28.1 percent of the city's total outbound investment.

The city also took the lead in China in setting up industrial and commercial centers in countries related to the routes, in a bid to promote bilateral investment and introduce professionals. Currently, six centers in Singapore, South Korea, the United States, Germany, Japan and Israel have already started operation.

In addition to a robust financial environment, Qingdao is famed for its long history, rich cultural resources and natural beauty. It was one of the favorite summer vacation destinations of Mao Zedong, the founding father of the People's Republic of China, and Deng Xiaoping, a former Chinese leader.

It now still serves as a hot tourist destination that annually attracts millions of visitors from around the world.

In 2015, the city was recognized as a national forest city, with its forest coverage reaching 39.4 percent and per capita parkland area reaching 14.6 square meters.

This year, Qingdao will step up efforts to develop into a more innovative and international city, said Party chief Zhang Jiangting at the city's 12th Congress of the CPC held on March 29.

Zhang put forward several city development goals and tasks for the next five years.

He said he hopes to build Qingdao into a major innovation center in China's eastern coastal area, a regional service center, a world-leading marine development center and an advanced manufacturing base with international competitiveness.

haonan@chinadaily.com.cn