The province of Shandong has a thriving business environment and it is home to five Fortune Global 500 companies, and has received investment from 200 Fortune Global 500 companies, said Alan Murray, CEO of Fortune.

Murray made the remarks during his online speech at the "Connecting Shandong with Fortune Global 500" USA special event, which was held on Sept 29 in Jinan, capital of Shandong.

He said that Shandong had the third largest GDP among provinces in China and is an essential player within the global supply chain.

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

"If Shandong were an independent country, its GDP would rank 16th in the world, which is equivalent to the total economic output of the Netherlands or Turkey," he said.

Shandong has been pursuing a new level of economic transformation in recent years to reduce its over-reliance on heavy industries and excessive energy consumption.

"It will be a long journey requiring good decision-making and determined execution. I look forward to more growth as Shandong continues its opening up to the world and pursue economic transformation," he said.

Murray also thanked Shandong for hosting the "Connecting Shandong with Fortune Global 500" series amid the ongoing global pandemic and resulting economic difficulties.