"Qingdao is striving to lead in Shandong's construction of a modern and strong province, striving to advance the practice of Chinese-style modernization in Qingdao," said Zeng Zanrong, a deputy to the 14th National People's Congress, and Party secretary of the coastal city.

He stated that efforts will be made to expand domestic demand comprehensively. This year, there will be increased efforts to implement policies, carry out concreted efforts to boost consumption, and fully unleash consumption potential. The focus will be on actively expanding effective investment, and speeding up the progress of 460 key construction projects in the city.

Zeng also emphasized that Qingdao should be committed to driving technological innovation. Qingdao is home to one national laboratory, three national innovation centers, and 16 national key laboratories. The city has nurtured 8,650 national high-tech enterprises and 9,777 technology-based small and medium-sized enterprises. Qingdao strives to help enterprises increase research and development investments and to nurture over 15,000 technology-based enterprises.

"We will expedite the development of an innovative industrial system, establish a cutting-edge manufacturing base in the north, and further enhance the new advantages of the industry," said Zeng.

He added that Qingdao will prioritize the development of its leading industries, aiming to increase the value-added of the core industries in the digital economy to account for over 12 percent of the regional GDP, and will focus on areas such as synthetic biology and industrial drones. Additionally, efforts will be made to enhance the development of its advantageous industries, supporting traditional enterprises in digital transformation to promote industry iteration and upgrade. Qingdao will also proactively plan for a group of future industries, accelerating the construction of a leading zone for future industries.

Zeng highlighted that Qingdao, born by the sea and thriving towards the sea, achieved a total marine production value of 551.32 billion yuan ($76.13 billion) in 2024, with a year-on-year growth of 6.6 percent. The city aims to further develop as a leading modern marine city, striving to create a highland for the development of the modern marine economy.

"As a forefront of reform and opening-up, Qingdao has undertaken a number of national reform pilot tasks and possesses high-level open platforms such as the China-SCO Local Economic and Trade Cooperation Demonstration Area, and the Qingdao Area of the Shandong Free Trade Pilot Zone. We will unswervingly deepen reform and expand opening-up to promote high-quality development," Zeng stated.

The busy Qingdao Port in Shandong province. [Photo/Guanhai News]