Fully leveraging their respective resources, industrial foundations and geographical advantages, Shandong, Hong Kong and Macao are further expanding cooperation and exchanges in multiple fields, including projects, talent, industry and trade.

Shandong, with its large economy and strong industrial foundation, is a crucial agricultural and energy base in China. In contrast, Hong Kong and Macao act as bridges linking China with the world and the world with China. They complement Shandong well in terms of market demand and factor flows.

Hong Kong has become the preferred destination for Shandong enterprises looking to list overseas. As of the end of the first quarter of this year, 68 Shandong enterprises had been listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, accounting for 54 percent of the province's overseas-listed companies, with cumulative financing in Hong Kong reaching 111 billion yuan ($15.31 billion), representing 86 percent of the province's total overseas financing. Shandong and Macao have also made solid progress in boosting joint ventures for international expansion and strengthening global agricultural trade and economic cooperation, especially with Portuguese-speaking countries.

Taking the cooperation between Shandong and Hong Kong as an example, Shandong's 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) proposes further development space for deepening Shandong-Hong Kong cooperation, especially in areas such as the Belt and Road Initiative, trade and investment, services, finance, transportation, logistics, innovation and technology, and youth development.

During the Hong Kong-Macao-Shandong Week in 2023, cooperation agreements were signed involving nine major projects in areas such as new energy materials, industrial internet, and industrial talent cooperation, worth a total of 9.3 billion yuan.

This year's Hong Kong-Macao-Shandong Week from May 26 to 30 in Hong Kong and Macao features a series of activities and is set to yield a batch of cooperation agreements and key foreign investment projects in such fields as finance, agriculture, technology and culture.