The third session of the 16th Qingdao People's Congress is held in Qingdao on Jan 19-22. [Photo/qingdaonews.com]

The third session of the 16th Qingdao People's Congress convened in Qingdao, in East China's Shandong province, Jan 19 with the release of the government work report.

According to the report, Qingdao's economy in 2018 saw high-speed growth. Its GDP was predicted to rise by 7.5 percent year-on-year to 1.2 trillion yuan ($173.93 billion) while the per capita disposable income of the city's residents grew by more than 8 percent.

The general public budget revenue reached 123.19 billion yuan, a yearly increase of 6.5 percent. The total retail sales of consumer goods in 2018 rose by around 9.8 percent while the fixed-asset investment increased by about 7.9 percent.

Qingdao received a total of more than 100 million domestic and foreign tourists in 2018, a year-on-year increase of more than 13 percent. Its total volume of foreign trade rose by 10 percent to $127 billion, while the actual use of foreign capital reached $8.69 billion yuan, with a yearly growth rate of 10 percent and accounting for 43 percent of the province's total.

The Qingdao government also set out its development goals for 2019 in the report.

It is expected that the regional GDP in 2019 will grow by around 7 percent, while the general public budget revenue will increase by more than 5 percent. The total retail sales of consumer goods and the per capita disposable income of the city's residents will rise by about 10 percent and 7.5 percent. Its registered unemployment rate in urban areas will remain below 4 percent.

Accelerating the development of the city's modern industrial system

Qingdao will seek to promote the transformation and upgrading of its traditional industries, cultivate and strengthen its strategic emerging and high-tech industries, boost the specialized and high-end development of producer services as well as the refined development of life services, and strengthen the building of high-quality brands to accelerate the development of its modern industrial system.

Implementing the innovation-driven development strategy

Twenty more gazelle companies and "hidden champions" will be cultivated in the city by the end of 2019, and the number of high-tech enterprises is expected to hit 3,200 by giving full play to all kinds of innovative platforms and scientific research institutions. Qingdao will also ensure effective implementation of relevant policies, such as relocation allowances, to attract innovative talents.

A gazelle company, a term coined by US economist David Birch in the 1990s, describes a typically small publicly traded company having an annual growth rate of 20 percent or more in sales revenue from startup. The term "hidden champions" refers to relatively small but highly successful companies that rely on innovation and quality upgrading and gain competitive strength through technological advances.