The seventh Qingdao Multinationals Summit officially opens on June 16 in Qingdao, Shandong province, attracting representatives from 357 multinational corporations from 44 countries and regions, including 105 Fortune Global 500 companies. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The seventh Qingdao Multinationals Summit opened on Tuesday in Qingdao, Shandong province, attracting representatives from 357 multinational corporations from 44 countries and regions, including 105 Fortune Global 500 companies.

Jointly hosted by the Shandong provincial government and the Ministry of Commerce, the summit is under the theme "Advancing with the 15th Five-Year Plan for Innovation and Future", and serves as a major platform for policy dialogue, industrial cooperation, and business matchmaking, organizers said.

This year's summit, which runs through Wednesday, features 29 events, including the opening ceremony and main forum, high-level meetings and talks, parallel forums, and a series of supporting investment promotion activities.

According to a report released by the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation under the Ministry of Commerce during the summit, multinational corporations remain a major source of foreign direct investment (FDI) in China.

According to the report, China continues to attract foreign investors, despite a complex and volatile global environment, by leveraging its vast and expanding market, complete industrial system, and predictable policy environment. The number of newly established foreign-invested enterprises continues to rise, while the quality and structure of utilized foreign investment have steadily improved.

The seventh Qingdao Multinationals Summit officially opens on June 16 in Qingdao, Shandong province, attracting representatives from 357 multinational corporations from 44 countries and regions, including 105 Fortune Global 500 companies. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

In the first four months of this year, more than 20,000 new foreign-invested enterprises were established nationwide, up 6.8 percent year-on-year, with over 3,000 of them making additional investments, according to data from the ministry.

Actual utilized FDI in high-tech industries reached 116.33 billion yuan ($17.2 billion), a year-on-year increase of 20.3 percent, the data showed.

Forty key cooperation projects were signed during the summit. Among them are 15 foreign investment projects involving a total investment of $1.42 billion, bringing capital and advanced technologies to help strengthen key industrial chains and promote high-quality industrial development.

Eight new foreign trade projects, with a combined import and export value of $1.26 billion, focus on high-value-added products, such as premium food, photovoltaic equipment, electronic packaging materials, fine chemicals, and high-performance tires.

In addition, 15 modern services projects, with a total investment of 6.65 billion yuan ($981 million), cover sectors including digital infrastructure, modern logistics, high-end healthcare, and elderly care services, as well as sci-tech innovation services.