Qingdao, Shandong province. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The efforts that Qingdao has taken to become a venture capital hub over the past four years have paid off, according to the city's financial supervision authority.

As of the end of June, the city's venture capital center, which was established four years ago, had managed more than 5 billion yuan ($687 million), said the city's financial supervision bureau on Aug 31.

Moreover, the number of private equity fund managers had nearly doubled compared with three years ago, and the paid-in private equity funds of more than 500 million yuan had increased by 50 percent during the period.

Qingdao authorities have also taken steps to further cement its status as a venture capital hub. For example, the city has for five consecutive years played host to the Global Venture Capital Conference, which is now an influential forum within the venture capital industry. The city has also published industry development white papers for five consecutive years, spearheaded the industry's development and set a new benchmark for industry development.

Qingdao has also further optimized the business environment for the venture capital industry. In the first half of this year, the city released 10 updated policies for the venture capital industry which provided support for venture capital institutions to increase investment, attract projects, and expand their scale.

In the first half of this year, Qingdao was ranked first in the country in terms of the number of new private equity funds registered with the China Foundation Association, and the main development indicators of private equity fund managers and private equity funds in the city were the highest in the country.