New growth drivers expanding fast in Shandong

East China's Shandong province is stepping up efforts to foster new growth drivers for the development of a green, low carbon, and high-quality economy.

A solid foundation has been laid for the construction of a comprehensive pilot zone that exemplifies the shift toward new growth drivers. It is devoted to the vigorous promotion of Shandong's top 10 advantageous industrial clusters ranging from new-generation information technology to high-end equipment, new energy and new materials, modern marine economy, medical health, high-end chemicals, modern high-efficient agriculture, cultural creativity, boutique tourism, and modern financial services.

Among the first batch of 450 priority projects listed in Shandong's major project repository, 383 projects are already underway, completing a total investment of 204.6 billion yuan ($29.76 billion).

For over a year, 27 funds have been approved in Shandong to support replacing old growth drivers with new ones for the top 10 industries, reaching a scale of 177.5 billion yuan.

In recent years, major efforts have been spent promoting the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries by accelerating the elimination of backward production capacity. In addition, the construction of refining and chemical integration bases, aluminum bases, and fine steel bases have been sped up.

Since the second half of 2017, the province has shut down nearly 100,000 "scattered, polluted, and dirty" enterprises, including several enterprises above designated size, which demonstrated Shandong's determination to create a green and environmentally-friendly GDP.

In the meantime, the new economy in Shandong is showing strong momentum. According to statistics, from January to May, the added value of smart consumer equipment, electronic and communication equipment, as well as computer and office equipment manufacturing increased by 12.2 percent, 9.7 percent and 7.1 percent respectively, which were 11.1, 8.6, and 6 percentage points higher than that of industries above scale.

A number of projects have also been attracted to Shandong to fuel its development. Last year, the province signed 2,478 domestic investment projects worth 2.33 trillion yuan.

In addition, 2,156 foreign-funded enterprises were established in Shandong in 2018, exceeding 2,000 for the first time in a decade. It recorded an increase of 45.8 percent. This demonstrates that Shandong's efforts to continuously optimize its investment environment have a strong appeal to foreign investors.

The 2019 China-Israel Cross-border Investment Forum was held in Jinan on May 28, in which 120 Israeli high-tech enterprises brought more than 400 projects with an eagerness to do business with Chinese companies. The scale of the event reached an unprecedented level.

Data show that in 2018, the added value created by the province's new growth drivers accounted for about 48 percent of GDP, an increase of nine percentage points over 2016.

Shandong is home to high-speed train developer and producer CRRC Qingdao Sifang. Provided to China Daily

Photo taken on May 16, 2018 shows an automatic container dock in Qingdao, East China's Shandong province. [Photo/Xinhua] 

A resident experiences the virtual reality system at the 11th China Weifang Culture and Art Fair held in Weifang, East China's Shandong province, in last April. Provided to China Daily