The Qingdao West Coast New Area signed 11 key projects netting a total investment of 17.2 billion yuan ($2.46 billion) on March 11 during an online signing ceremony.
The projects involve high-end manufacturing industries such as smart home appliances, medical equipment, smart marine manufacturing, and a development platform for new-generation industrial parks.
Local authorities said that the projects will inject new vitality into regional development and fuel the area’s efforts to shift from old growth drivers to new ones.
A commercial air conditioning project with one billion yuan in investment will be jointly funded by Hitachi, a Japanese multinational conglomerate, and Hisense Group, a Qingdao-based home appliance maker.
The project will involve the construction of a leading research and development center for large central air conditioning units, an evaluation center, a global brand training center, and 12 smart manufacturing systems for energy-efficient commercial air conditioning.
A Desiree intelligent storage equipment project receiving a total of 600 million yuan in investment will engage in research, development, and production of automated stereoscopic warehouses and logistical storage equipment.
A smart medical device project receiving $23 million in investment will mainly involve research, development, and production of remote intelligent heart monitors and non-invasive blood glucose meters, as well as collection, analysis, and application services for medical big data related to heart and blood glucose disease management.
Zhongke industrial park, receiving 5 billion yuan in investment, is designed to foster industries such as automotive technology, intelligent manufacturing, 5G, and chips.
In addition, a science park receiving 3 billion yuan in investment will attempt to attract unicorn and gazelle enterprises and form an industrial cluster revolving around high-end equipment, intelligent manufacturing, chip design, big data, and block chain technology.
Lastly, a cultural creative park receiving 2 billion yuan in investment will attempt to boost the regional development of the cultural and creative industries.