City still a pioneer of opening-up

Qingdao, one of China's pioneering coastal cities in terms of opening up, stands out for its openness and integration into the national opening-up strategy.

In response to the severe and complex international economic and trade environment, Qingdao has focused on cultivating new momentum for foreign trade development, making various efforts to stabilize its foreign trade foundation.

In the first three quarters, the city's import and export of goods increased by 2.9 percent year-on-year. Exports grew by 8.3 percent, surpassing the national and provincial averages by 2.1 and 1.9 percentage points, respectively.

"Exports have become a crucial driver for the economy, particularly in sustaining the steady growth of the manufacturing industry," said Wang Zhijun, director of the Qingdao bureau of commerce.

The foreign trade structure has also been optimized. For example, exports of mechanical and electrical products increased by 13.1 percent year-on-year, accounting for 50.5 percent of the city's total export value. Exports of agricultural products have ranked first among cities nationwide for nine consecutive years.

Qingdao is promoting high-quality development in investment attraction. In the first three quarters, the city signed 707 new projects with a total planned investment of 455 billion yuan ($63.3 billion). Notably, manufacturing projects comprise over 60 percent of these, and the construction project commencement rate has reached 76.3 percent.

Moreover, Qingdao has intensified efforts to attract and utilize foreign investment, introducing 24 related measures and guiding foreign investment into the real economy.

More than 500 new foreign-funded enterprises were established in the city during the first nine months, accounting for 31.4 percent of the provincial total; the actual utilization of foreign investment in high-tech industries reached $750 million, a 10.7 percentage point increase compared to the same period last year.

Qingdao has so far attracted 179 Fortune Global 500 companies to invest in 410 projects.

Located as a vital gateway to Northeast Asia, Qingdao connects Japan, the Republic of Korea, and the Pacific, boasting integrated land, sea, air, and rail transportation channels. In 2019, the central government approved Qingdao to construct the China-Shanghai Cooperation Organization Local Economic and Trade Cooperation Demonstration Area as a new international cooperation platform serving the Belt and Road Initiative.

In the same year, the China (Shandong) Pilot Free Trade Zone Qingdao Area was also established.

Wang said that Qingdao is leveraging national strategic platforms, including the China-SCO demonstration area and the free trade zone, to lead high-level opening-up through institutional innovation.

The China-SCO demonstration area has launched 88 institutional innovation achievements and gathered over 2,000 trading entities, with 15,000 companies included on the area's economic and trade comprehensive service platform. The transaction volume of the area's international energy center has exceeded 210 billion yuan.

The Qingdao area of the free trade zone has introduced over 300 innovative achievements, with three selected as national pilot reform cases by the State Council.

In recent years, Qingdao has intensified efforts to attract global high-quality resources. The city has established an international investment attraction team to connect with high-quality foreign investment projects and implement promotion actions.

This year, the team has held nine economic and trade activities in Japan, the ROK, Europe, the Middle East, and other countries and regions, and conducted visits of 125 companies and institutions, resulting in 68 project cooperation intentions with a total investment of $2.56 billion.

Qingdao has hosted five consecutive sessions of the Qingdao Multinationals Summit, signing 65 projects with a total investment of $11.36 billion. At this year's fifth summit, 140 Fortune Global 500 companies and 311 industry leaders gathered in Qingdao, continuously enhancing the international influence of the event.

As for construction of the Belt and Road Initiative, Qingdao is deepening international capacity cooperation, supporting leading enterprises in industries such as household appliances, electronics, and rubber tires to expand into overseas markets.

"Celebrating the 40th anniversary of being a coastal opening-up city, Qingdao is striving to become an international consumption center city, and accelerating the construction of a strong trading city with the establishment of the 'Invest in Qingdao' brand," Wang said.

The city aims to continuously shape new advantages in developing an open economy, and contribute to the construction of a modern international metropolis, he added.

An arterial road running through the Qingdao Area of the China (Shandong) Pilot Free Trade Zone. CHINA DAILY