Qingdao revs up efforts to open up to world

City in Shandong province is expanding business via conferences and gathering of venture capital leaders

The host for a series of heavyweight international events, the coastal city Qingdao in Shandong province is revving up efforts to further open up to the outside world, deepen global cooperation and help build a community with a shared future for mankind, local officials said.

The Qingdao Global Venture Capital Conference kicked off on June 10 and concluded on June 11. It was conducted in an online and offline model, aiming to create a new engine for innovation, science and technology.

As a high-standard financial industry conference, it attracted representatives from the Shenzhen Stock Exchange, the Shanghai Stock Exchange and the Beijing Stock Exchange, as well as more than 100 well-known experts from around the world.

At the opening ceremony, Lu Zhiyuan, deputy Party secretary of Shandong and Party secretary of Qingdao, said that Qingdao has comprehensive advantages in terms of geographical location, industrial base, natural ecology, business environment, cultural heritage and financial development. It is a fertile land for the growth and development of various types of capital such as venture capital, he said.

"In recent years, we have given full play to our advantages as a national-level financial comprehensive reform pilot zone, created a sound ecosystem for the healthy and orderly development of capital and accelerated the accumulation of financial institutions and human resources."

Lu said Qingdao is striving to build itself into a modern city with vitality and a business-friendly environment. It is advancing digital transformation, creating 24 key industrial chains and attracting a number of high-quality enterprises and projects.

The city adheres to innovation-driven development by supporting the creation of innovation consortia and promoting the industrialization of scientific and technological achievements.

Qingdao continuously expands opening-up to the outside world, amplifies the advantages of the "four-port linkage" by sea, land, air and rail and actively promotes international trade cooperation.

"We will continue to optimize the market-oriented, legalized and internationalized business environment, provide all-around services, gather more financial institutions and talents and continuously inject financial vitality into the development of Qingdao," Lu said.

Chen Chunyan, secretary-general of the Asset Management Association of China, said that Qingdao, as a pilot area for comprehensive reform of wealth management and finance, is dedicated to building a venture capital center and promoting innovation and entrepreneurship to achieve new results.

A total of 44 key projects were signed during the conference with total investment value of 61.765 billion yuan. The investments are mainly concentrated in emerging technology industries such as intelligent manufacturing, artificial intelligence, new materials, new-generation information technology, medical equipment, energy conservation and environmental protection.

From June 20 to 21, the third Qingdao Multinationals Summit was held in Qingdao, which demonstrated China's determination to expand opening-up and boosted the confidence of multinational corporations in investing and developing in China.

Lu said that multinational companies play a vital role in promoting economic globalization and Qingdao has attracted 173 Fortune Global 500 companies to invest with 383 key projects, making it one of the cities with the most intensive investment by multinational companies.

During the summit, Qingdao signed 13 key projects with a total investment value of $2.34 billion and contracted foreign capital of $1.24 billion. The signed projects involve cultural creativity, medical care and health, modern finance, modern commerce and trade, intelligent equipment manufacturing and park development. The 2022 East Asia Marine Cooperation Platform Qingdao Forum was held in Qingdao West Coast New Area last week. During the forum, nearly 400 guests and more than 1,000 enterprises, including marine experts, economists, cultural scholars and entrepreneurs from many countries and regions, participated in the exhibition and gathered in the combined form online and offline This setup deepened exchanges and cooperation in the fields of marine economy, science and technology, humanities and environmental protection.