Yantai makes big push to increase ties with Shanghai

An all-embracing promotion seminar organized by the eastern coastal city of Yantai was held on July 20 in Shanghai in a bid to attract more investment and tourists from the country's most prosperous metropolis.

More than 100 distinguished guests from the Shanghai government, media, and concerned industries including agriculture, finance, investment and tourism took part in the event.

An urban promotion event highlighting the eastern coastal city of Yantai is held on July 20 in Shanghai. [Photo/shm.com]

Xu Shaoning, director of the Yantai publicity department, briefed the attendees about the city's economic and social development in recent years.

Located on the east coast of the Shandong Peninsula and bordered by Bohai Bay and the Yellow Sea, Yantai is a regional transport hub, an important industrial city in the Bohai-rim economic zone and a gateway to Northeast Asia.

The city was among the first of China's 14 coastal cities to open to the outside world and is one of the 15 key pivot cities in the country's Belt and Road Initiative.

Covering about 13,700 square kilometers, Yantai is now the administrative center for four city districts, one county and seven county-level cities, which are home to around 7.01 million people.

Xu Shaoning, director of the Yantai publicity department, delivers a speech at the urban promotional event held on July 20 in Shanghai. [Photo/shm.com]

The city's gross domestic product was 692.6 billion yuan ($100.44 billion) in 2016, ranking it second among Shandong's 17 cities.

The city has established special bonds of friendship and cooperation with 25 cities around the world.

Yantai is home to five national hi-tech industrial parks and ten provincial-level economic development zones. The Yantai government has simplified matters of administrative examination and approval and it always provide investors with a sound environment for business operations.

Last year Yantai was named a National Forest City, which was a huge honor recognizing the city's environmental protection work. The woodlands in Yantai cover over 533,333 hectares, and the ratio of forest coverage has reached 40 percent, the highest in Shandong province. Currently, more than 90 Fortune 500 and multinational enterprises have established facilities in Yantai, generating annual imports and exports of about $50 billion and contributing to its competitiveness in automobiles, computers, cell phones, wines, gold, ship-building and new materials.

Xu added that Yantai has emphasized promotion of its city image in recent years. The government has set up a working group to expand its presence at home and abroad.

Officials from different Yantai government departments also presented regional features from the viewpoint of agriculture, tourism, investment and living environment.

In recent years, Yantai and Shanghai have established sound cooperative relations in leisure tourism, trade and investment. The Yantai government hoped to take this opportunity to further develop mutual exchanges and cooperation.

Thick clouds muffle a vivid orange glow from the rising sun at the Yantai Mountain Park. [Photo by Yu Yamin/jiaodong.net]