Shandong province has launched a series of measures to facilitate foreign investment and widen market access to improve its business environment and help counter the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Undeterred by the outbreak, the province's commitment to opening-up has remained as firm as ever.

Restrictions on foreign investment are continuing to be relaxed in the country, and foreign equity caps have been removed in the financial sector, making 2020 the beginning of a full opening up in the domestic financial sector.

Shandong will support the establishment of wholly foreign-owned enterprises in areas like special purpose vehicles, new energy vehicles, and commercial vehicles.

It will also manage the pre-establishment national treatment and negative list and remove all restrictions that are not included on the negative list.

The province will launch a number of new infrastructure projects and mixed-ownership reforms of State-owned enterprises to attract foreign investment and cooperation.

It will launch supportive polices to help multinational companies establish headquarters and functional offices in Shandong.

Shandong will accelerate the development of platforms for opening up. A subsidy of 50 million yuan ($7.19 million) will be allocated to the first batch of international cooperation parks recognized by the provincial government.

The province will launch 100 key projects to strengthen cooperation with 52 Fortune global 500 companies from Japan and the top 30 companies in South Korea.