The eastern coastal city of Qingdao, Shandong province held a meeting on May 14 to underline the need to step up efforts to further reform and attract investment and talent so as to achieve a rapid economic rebound in light of the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Qingdao hosts a meeting on May 14 discussing ways to further reform and attract investment and talent. [Photo/qingdaonews.com]

Local officials said that 2020 has been an unusual year for the world and the COVID-19 pandemic has had an unprecedented impact on economic and social development. They noted that the pandemic is profoundly changing world order, economic order and industrial order, while also causing changes in the competitiveness of countries, regions, cities and enterprises.

Wang Qingxian, Party secretary of Qingdao, said that the city needs to take special measures to further reform and innovation so as to ensure a steady recovery in economic and social development during these challenging times.

Wang Qingxian, Party secretary of Qingdao, delivers a speech at the meeting. [Photo/qingdaonews.com]

The city has launched a series of measures to support the resumption of production and reopening of businesses since the outbreak occurred. Some of these measures include opening a 24-hour multilingual service hotline for foreign investors and enterprises and adopting innovative practices such as online business negotiations and project signing to facilitate businesses and investment.

Official data show that investment in Qingdao from January to April increased by 2.8 percent. In April, investment in the city exceeded 55 billion yuan ($7.75 billion), and the number of new projects that commenced exceeded 300. From January to April, the city's foreign trade reached 189.81 billion yuan, an increase of 2.5 percent from last year.

Wang said that Qingdao is gearing up for pronounced, wide-ranging technological and societal changes that could fundamentally reshape the world economy in a post-pandemic future.

The eastern coastal city of Qingdao, Shandong province [Photo/WeChat account: qdfbwx]

The city will continue to boost its pillar industries and keep abreast of the latest technological trends on the internet, new energy vehicles, healthcare and port economy to maintain growth.

Officials also said that Qingdao will integrate local resources to become the world's industrial internet capital and that it been promoting "new infrastructure" construction covering 5G, Internet of Things and smart logistics to pave the way for the development of the industrial internet.

It will also leverage national strategies such as local economic and trade cooperation between China and the SCO, the Qingdao Area of the China (Shandong) Pilot Free Trade Zone, and the Belt and Road Initiative to facilitate international business and cooperation.