The Qingdao Municipal People’s Government Information Office recently held a news conference to brief on the four years of development of the Qingdao Area of the China (Shandong) Pilot Free Trade Zone (hereinafter referred to as Qingdao FTZ). According to the evaluation report released in the conference, over the four years since its approval, the Qingdao FTZ has witnessed 285 innovative practice cases, 12 and 52 of which have been duplicated and spread across the country and Shandong Province, respectively, thus cementing its first-tier nationwide position.

Over the four years, the Qingdao FTZ has leveraged the strengths of trade and investment liberalization and facilitation, and advanced high-level opening-up in a down-to-earth manner. The largest ship trading market and the most professional towboat and chartering transaction platform in northern China has been well-established; 66 investment projects by World Fortune 500 companies at home and abroad, 29 projects worth more than USD100mln each and 662 projects worth RMB100mln each have been introduced. Buoyed by a slew of innovative measures, the Qingdao FTZ has secured a combined RMB635.3bln worth of imports and exports, with a CAGR of 27.3%, and utilized USD2.53bln of foreign investment, with a CAGR of 51%.

Furthermore, the Qingdao FTZ continues to strength the modern industry system. Such project as the Qingdao Integrated Circuit Industry Park and the Weichai Power R&D Center are underway at a fast pace, chain projects including Diehl Controls and KC&E have been completed, superior projects of Sailun, SAIC and GM are being upgraded speedily and a slew of future industry projects, such as the BGI North China Center, are under fast construction.  (Wang Kai)

A corner of the Qingdao FTZ. By Sun Jintao