Jinan strives to become an international metropolis

Shandong province supports Jinan with its goals of building itself into a modern international metropolis, according to a government report, released at the second session of the 13th Shandong Provincial People's Congress on Feb 14.

Jinan, the capital city of Shandong province, has set a goal in 2019 to develop into an international metropolis integrating high-end industries, modern logistics, modern services and talents in northern China.

The provincial government announced plans to make efforts to support Jinan's high-quality development and seek coordinated development with Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region.

"The regional cooperation mechanism should be deepened and cooperation and development of provincial border areas enhanced," said Gong Zheng, the governor of Shandong province.

As the provincial capital city, Jinan has great incentives to rise as a key metropolis in northern China. Official data shows that last year the city's gross domestic product (GDP) was roughly 785.6 billion yuan ($113.8 billion) in 2018, up 7.4 percent.

Its general public budget revenue reached 75.28 billion yuan, up 11.2 percent. The imports and exports increased by 16.2 percent, above the average of 8.5 percent for Shandong province on a whole.

The financial industry has developed into one of the 100 billion industries in Jinan. In 2018, the added value of the city's financial industry reached 83 billion yuan and tax revenue for the financial sector reached 14.3 billion yuan, ranking first in the province.

To achieve its goal, the Jinan government has identified a series of work priorities for the year ahead, including boosting industrial development of the economy, its culture and tourism.

The capital of Shandong province will continue to transform itself into an advanced and modern economy and focus more on developing emerging strategic industries and the advanced manufacturing sectors and lure more high-end companies and talents.