On March 26, Z/Yen Group, a British think tank and the China Development Institute in Shenzhen jointly issued the Global Financial Centers Index 39 (GFCI39). Qingdao ranked 33rd among 137 global financial centers shortlisted by the GFCI39, improving by two spots compared with its rating in the previous session, Qingdao was included among the top 50 global financial centers for the 19th straight time.

As one of a few Chinese cities where a continuous stream of opening-up policies is rolled out, Qingdao in recent years has been the first to carry out pilot programs in such fields as cross-border investment and financing facilitation, and opening-up in the financial sector, and garnered approval to pilot more than 30 national financial innovation programs, including integrated RMB and foreign currency cash pooling for multinational corporations, QDLP, pensions management, equity investment by financial asset investment companies, and M&A loans targeting tech companies. As a result, a number of experiences and practices that can be transferred elsewhere have emerged. Data from the Qingdao Municipal Financial Regulatory Bureau shows that Qingdao is now home to 15 foreign-funded bank branches, the sixth most in China. As the end of 2025, assets of foreign-funded banks in Qingdao totaled RMB 53.3 bln, the balance of Qingdao’s loans in local and foreign currencies surpassed RMB 3.4 tln for the first time, and the balance of insurance fund exceeded RMB 100 bln. Qingdao has so far boasted 86 companies listed domestically and abroad, topping Shandong province and ranking third among all cities in northern China.