Yantai, Japan deepen trade cooperation

Agreements for five projects were signed online between transnational corporations from Japan and Yantai during the Japan session of the "Connecting Shandong with Fortune Global 500" serial event on Nov 10.

The projects will receive $572 million in investment and focus on the equipment manufacturing, services, and electronic information industries.

Zhang Shuping, Party secretary of Yantai, delivered a keynote speech at the Yantai venue of the conference.

"Yantai is one of the first 14 coastal cities in China to open up to the outside world, as well as one of China's nearest cities to Japan. The two sides have had a long history of trade exchange and cooperation," he said.

Yantai is focusing on developing its manufacturing industry, which includes high-end chemicals, biological medicine, automobiles, and marine equipment.

Zhang also expressed hope that more Japanese entrepreneurs would come to Yantai to start businesses and develop more extensive cooperation.

Chen Fei, mayor of Yantai, noted that the city plans to further open up, improve its industrial and economic cooperation with Japan, and build a demonstration zone for China-Japan cooperation.

Yantai will take full advantage of its strength in manufacturing, agriculture, and opening up, and will push for a higher level of cooperation, he added.

Japan is currently the second largest trading partner of Yantai, and the value of imports and exports between the two places reached 22.53 billion yuan ($3.41 billion) in the first eight months of this year.

As of this September, Yantai had approved a total of 1,230 Japanese-funded projects with a contractual value of $4.93 billion, and its actual use of Japanese capital was $1.93 billion.

The city is home to 21 projects funded by some of the world's top 500 companies from Japan, including Honda Motor, Itochu Corporation, Toyota Motor, and Mitsui & Co.