The 2023 Shandong Week kicked off in Hong Kong and Macao on May 29 and will serve as a platform to showcase the comparative advantages of the three regions and foster more opportunities for cooperation in businesses and cultural exchanges.

The event will run until June 2.

Shandong is an economic powerhouse in China. [Photo/Dazhong Daily]

Advanced manufacturing and finance

In 2022, Shandong had a GDP of 8.74 trillion yuan ($1.24 trillion) and added more than 6,000 high-tech enterprises. Shandong is the only province in China with an agricultural output value exceeding 1 trillion yuan.

This year, Shandong will construct 10 research centers for basic science, tackle bottleneck areas such as industrial machine tools and chips and launch 100 major sci-tech innovation projects.

The high-quality development of manufacturing is inseparable from financing. In this regard, Hong Kong plays a key role in the development process. Macao also boasts a strong economic vitality in the Asia-Pacific region and is an important window to connect the Chinese mainland with international markets.

During Shandong Week, the province will hold a series of matchmaking meetings on industrial cooperation and finance between the three regions.

Hong Kong is an important channel for Shandong enterprises to enter the international market. [Photo/Dazhong Daily]

Economic and trade cooperation

As of April, there were 5,881 Hong Kong-funded enterprises in Shandong and the actual use of the Hong Kong capital amounted to $80.45 billion, accounting for 64.7 percent of the province's total overseas capital.

Hong Kong has always been an important channel for Shandong enterprises to enter the international market. In 1993, Tsingtao Brewery became the first company in the Chinese mainland to be listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. To date, 66 Shandong enterprises have been listed on the HKSE, with their combined financing amounting to 110.5 billion yuan. 

Improving people's livelihoods

Over the years, Shandong, Hong Kong, and Macao have maintained close exchanges in terms of people's livelihoods and social governance. Shandong's export value of agricultural products reached 139.4 billion yuan in 2022, retaining its position as the highest in China for the 24th year running. Shandong is currently advancing the "vegetable basket" standard system for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area's entire industrial chain, demonstrating new standards, facilities and technologies in modern agriculture. 

Shandong, a province renowned for its traditional Chinese medicine industry, has also been promoting exchange and cooperation in this field and biological medicine with Hong Kong and Macao.

Humanistic exchanges

Shandong, the birthplace of various cultures such as Confucianism and Taoism, has continued to promote humanistic exchanges and cooperation with Hong Kong and Macao in fields such as culture, education, tourism and sports.