An online serial event, Connecting Shandong with Fortune Global 500 Europe Special, was held on Thursday in Jinan, the provincial capital. [Photo by Zhao Ruixue/chinadaily.com.cn]

Transnational Fortune Global 500 companies are demonstrating their confidence in the Chinese market. Ten key projects were signed between transnational corporations from Europe and Shandong province on Thursday in Jinan, the provincial capital.

Covering sectors including high-end equipment manufacturing, new materials, modern finance, biotechnology and food manufacturing, the deals were signed at the Europe Special of the online serial event Connecting Shandong with Fortune Global 500.

Special sessions for ASEAN, the United States, South Korea and Japan are scheduled over the next two months.

"The serial event has demonstrated the commitment of Shandong province to remain open and cooperative with the world in this difficult time," said Zhan Xiaoning, director of Investment and Enterprise at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.

"By connecting to the world and continuously optimizing the business environment in recent years, Shandong has created favorable conditions for the development of enterprises and promoted investment in high value-added industries," he said.

Ten key deals were signed between transnational corporations from Europe and East China's Shandong province during the online event on Thursday in Jinan. [Photo by Zhao Ruixue/chinadaily.com.cn]

In recent years, Shandong has ramped up efforts on creating a more open and attractive investment environment to attract high-quality projects, said Li Ganjie, the governor.

The province recently formulated and introduced 20 innovative foreign investment optimization measures, in a bid to build a first-class business and investment environment with a high degree of internationalization, convenience and innovation.

"Shandong's economy showed strong resilience to COVID-19," said Thierry Delmarcelle, chief strategy and innovation officer at Deloitte Asia Pacific.

Statistics from Shandong's Department of Commerce show that as of the first half of this year, 219 Fortune Global 500 companies had invested in 785 companies in the province.