New quality productive forces are giving fresh momentum to Qingdao's development

Qingdao, as a major economic hub in China, has been vigorously advancing new quality productive forces since the beginning of this year. The city has strengthened innovation-driven growth, continuously deepened reform and opening-up, and made significant strides in its quest to become a modern international metropolis.

In the first three quarters, Qingdao's GDP surpassed 1.2 trillion yuan ($167.6 billion), marking a year-on-year increase of 5.6 percent. The value added by industries above designated size rose by 9.4 percent year-on-year, while the total import and export volume reached 681.8 billion yuan.

The city's economic and industrial structure has undergone significant optimization and upgrading, reshaping the momentum for the city's future high-quality development.

In the first three quarters, the value added by strategic emerging industries in Qingdao grew by 12 percent year-on-year, with the new-generation information technology industries, such as integrated circuits, new displays, and virtual reality, experiencing growth of over 20 percent. Productive service industries, which are deeply integrated with manufacturing, also maintained a rapid growth rate of 5.8 percent year-on-year, contributing 72.7 percent to the growth of the service industry.

Embracing the trend of digitalization, Qingdao has launched over 50 industrial internet platforms and advanced the digital transformation of more than 1,000 enterprises.

The city has also initiated a three-year action plan for the development of artificial intelligence, released several big models for the ocean economy, and accelerated the construction of over 20 large models for manufacturing developed by enterprises such as Haier and AInnovation.

Cementing its status as a strong sci-tech city, Qingdao is home to Laoshan Laboratory and 12 national key laboratories, with numerous major scientific research projects being smoothly implemented.

The city's national innovation centers for high-speed trains, smart home appliances, virtual reality, and other fields have achieved a total of 12 technological breakthroughs.

Qingdao's robust economic momentum toward high-quality and innovative growth is vividly reflected in the vitality of its market entities. This year, the city has steadfastly advanced reforms in key areas, introducing more than 300 reform measures and implementing 52 new measures to optimize the business environment.

In its efforts to create a new frontier for opening-up, Qingdao has fully leveraged the pioneering roles of the China-Shanghai Cooperation Organization Demonstration Zone for Local Economic and Trade Cooperation and the China (Shandong) Pilot Free Trade Zone Qingdao Area, leading high-level opening-up with comprehensive institutional innovation.

This year, the city has also hosted major events such as the Green Development Forum of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization Countries, SCO Forum on Women, and Qingdao Multinationals Summit. In July, at the SCO Plus meeting in Astana, Qingdao was designated as the "2024-2025 SCO Tourism and Cultural Capital", further enhancing the city's influence and reputation.

Capitalizing on its advantages in openness, Qingdao has signed contracts for over 707 projects this year, with a total planned investment of 455 billion yuan. These investments will provide significant impetus for urban development and tangibly transform life in the city with actual development outcomes.

As a crucial driver of urban economic development, the quality of projects affects short-term investment attraction and determines the city's development prospects. Guided by this understanding, Qingdao's project construction is not only proceeding at a rapid pace but also demonstrating high quality and potential.

As of now, 460 key projects with a total investment of approximately 1 trillion yuan have commenced in the city, accounting for nearly 85 percent of its investment plan for the year.

Notably, the refrigerator project of Haier's COSMOPlat, an industrial internet platform, has been smoothly put into operation, while air conditioning and washing machine projects have started as scheduled.

Moreover, enterprises such as Qingdao Beihai Shipbuilding and Offshore Oil Engineering (Qingdao) have developed leading capabilities in constructing green-powered ships and offshore oil and gas production facilities.