Business Environment

Additionally, the city continues to further its opening-up. The total volume of its foreign trade in 2017 was 70.81 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 10.5 percent. In 2017 there were 16 projects with an investment exceeding $100 million and eight funded by Global 500 companies settled in Jinan. The total actually utilized foreign capital reached 12.64 billion yuan, increasing by 12.6 percent over 2016. Jinan's overseas investment totaled 5.66 billion yuan, a growth rate of 24.4 percent over the previous year.

By the end of 2017, 448 overseas enterprises had settled in Jinan. The cumulative contract value of foreign contracted projects was $36 billion, and the turnover was $25.9 billion.

In 2017 the gross output value of the economic circle of "1+6" urban agglomeration around the provincial capital composed of Jinan as the center and six neighboring cities was 2.53 trillion yuan, accounting for 35 percent of the GDP of Shandong province.

4. Industrial Clusters
Jinan has been predominant in the information technology (IT) industry, and was named "China's software city" by the Ministry of Science and Technology in 2011.

In 2017 the prime operating revenue of Jinan's IT industry totaled 319.9 billion yuan while that of the city's software and IT services accounted for 51 percent of the province's total, ranking first among all cities in the province.

The city's new generation IT industry cluster was selected as the only one-pillar industry cluster in Shandong province in November 2018, and awarded 30 million yuan over three years by the government. It was also listed among Jinan's plan to develop 10 industries by 2020 with an industrial development capacity of 100 billion yuan. The other nine industries are quantum technology, intelligent manufacturing and high-end equipment, biological medicine, advanced materials, science and technology services, culture-oriented travel, medical rehabilitation, modern logistics, and industrial finance.

The financial industry is also a pillar industry of Jinan city. There were 598 financial institutions in Jinan, including 34 listed companies and 158 New Third Board-listed ones by September 2018. The added value of the financial industry in the first half of 2018 reached 39.2 billion yuan, an increase of 4.2 percent year-on-year and accounting for 10 percent of the city's GDP. By the end of September 2018, tax revenue created by the financial industry was 12.16 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 12.8 percent and making up 12 percent of the city's total.

Renowned for its numerous springs, Jinan is also an excellent tourism city, with 49 national A-level scenic spots, 30 provincial tourism towns, 82 provincial tourist villages and one provincial tourist resort.

In 2017 Jinan received a total of 728.56 million tourists from home and abroad, with a growth rate of 10.1 percent over the previous year. Tourist consumption totaled 97.08 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 16.4 percent.

5. Scientific and Technological Innovation
Jinan has a strong foundation in scientific and technological innovation. Its total investment in R&D in 2017 reached 15.67 billion yuan, accounting for 2.4 percent of the city's GDP. The number of patent applications throughout 2017 was 30,737, of which 11,720 were for inventions. The average of valid patents owned for every 10,000 people reached 25.6, a year-on-year growth of 23.5 percent.