"Shandong entrepreneurs are known for being honest, faithful, hardworking, brave and intelligent," said Alan Murray, CEO of Fortune.

Murray made the remarks during his online speech at the "Connecting Shandong with Fortune Global 500" ASEAN special event, which was held on Sept 22 in Jinan, capital of Shandong.

Alan Murray, CEO of Fortune [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

He said that he had an opportunity to witness these traits a few years ago at the Fortune Global Forum, where he interviewed Haier's CEO Zhang Ruimin, who Fortune named as one of the World's Greatest Leaders.

The "Connecting Shandong with Fortune Global 500" series of events, organized by the CPC Shandong Provincial Committee and Shandong Provincial People's Government, and supported by Fortune China, are designed to deepen cooperation between Shandong and multinational companies.

Murray said that this year, the Fortune Global 500 lists included five Shandong companies, making it one of the top provinces in China for the Fortune Global 500.

At the same time, Shandong has attracted more than 200 Fortune 500 companies to invest in Shandong.

"As for the first half of 2020, a total of 219 Fortune 500 companies had invested in 785 enterprises in Shandong, highlighting the province's position as an attractive location for companies with its strong business and economic prospects," he said.