Qingdao aims to become top maritime, industrial economy

City planning to serve as a major innovation center for coastal areas across eastern China

Qingdao in East China's Shandong province is striving to build itself into a leading city in the development of top industries and a modern maritime economy.

The city plans to become an international innovation-oriented metropolis, a global financial and transportation hub, a model city for modern governance and a high-quality coastal city suitable for living, working and tourism.

To realize these goals, Qingdao has set up a special leading group headed by the main leaders of the city government and the Communist Party of China Qingdao Municipal Committee, as well as establishing six work teams.

It has also compiled an opinion on the overall implementation of six five-year (2022-26) plans and six three-year (2022-24) action outlines for each goal.

The opinion has eight parts and 33 articles, which clearly put forward the development paths and measures of meeting the six goals.

Based on those plans, Qingdao's comprehensive competitiveness and international influence will be significantly enhanced by 2026, and the city will make substantial progress in building a modern socialist international metropolis in the new era.

To build a leading city in modern industries requires a focus on the revitalization of the real economy, the improvement of the service industry and the expansion of the digital economy.

Qingdao will make more efforts to establish national pilot zones for the high-quality development of the manufacturing industry.

It will also develop national bases for strategic emerging industries, a national economic center of modern services and a national modern agriculture demonstration zone.

By 2026, the number of listed companies in Qingdao is expected to reach 110.

The added value of the manufacturing sector will account for more than 30 percent of the city's GDP, and the added value of core industries in the digital economy will account for about 12 percent of the GDP.

Qingdao needs to further strengthen its functions and characteristics in the modern maritime industry.

It will also accelerate the construction of an international maritime science and technology innovation center, an international shipping, trade and financial innovation center, a global maritime ecology demonstration center and a global maritime affairs exchange center.

The city plans to promote the innovative application of offshore wind power and build a leading demonstration zone for maritime economic development in the country.

Qingdao's gross ocean product will account for about 33 percent of its GDP by 2026. The total cargo throughput at the city's ports will exceed 700 million metric tons and container throughput will exceed 28 million twenty-foot equivalent units.

To become an international innovation city, Qingdao will continuously improve the sci-tech independent innovation capability of local enterprises.

The city plans to serve as an important innovation center in the coastal areas of eastern China, and will speed up the construction of major sci-tech infrastructure such as thermo-physical test devices for key components of aspirated engines.

Qingdao is expected to have more than 3 million talents and more than 10,000 national high-tech companies in 2026.

To become an international hub, Qingdao will focus on global cooperation, two-way investment, comprehensive transportation and internal and external circulation.

The city will enhance demonstration roles of national platforms such as the Shandong Pilot Free Trade Zone Qingdao Area, and construct the Qingdao China-Japan Cooperation Demonstration Zone. It also hopes to host the first China-Central Asian Countries Industry and Investment Cooperation Forum.

By 2026, the city's total imports and exports of goods will exceed 1.3 trillion yuan ($181.48 billion) and the passenger throughput of its two airports will exceed 44 million.

As for the construction of a high-quality coastal city suitable for living, working and tourism, Qingdao plans to pour more resources in urban renewal, ecological protection, cultural tourism, people's livelihoods and rural vitalization.

It will also highlight the construction of a national pilot zone for integrated urban-rural development.

Days with good air quality will reach 88.8 percent annually in Qingdao in 2026, the city's permanent resident population will exceed 11 million by that time and it will receive more than 170 million tourist visits a year.

Qingdao will also accelerate the building of a digital government and modernize its urban governance system and capacity. The city plans to rank among the top five nationwide for its comprehensive business environment by 2026.