The Japan session of the "Connecting Shandong with Fortune Global 500" serial event is held on Nov 10. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Shandong has been ramping up efforts to attract more transnational corporations to set up regional headquarters in the province to further develop the local economy.

Fourteen departments in the province, including the Shandong Provincial Department of Commerce, local customs authorities and the Shandong Provincial Departments of Finance, recently issued a slew of supportive measures and policies to encourage more multinational companies to set up their regional headquarters and research centers in the province.

In order to serve the regional headquarters of multinational companies, Shandong province will provide policy support in four aspects: simplifying entry and exit procedures, talent introduction, facilitating trade, and financial support.

Qualified overseas high-level personnel from regional headquarters can apply for the Shandong "Huicai Card" and enjoy access to 29 green channel services, such as entry and exit and residence, children's enrollment, and social insurance.

For qualified regional headquarters, the local customs will help them to cultivate advanced customs certification enterprises and provide customs clearance convenience for their imports and exports.

The province will also provide the regional headquarters with many conveniences such as filing foreign exchange payment contracts under non-trade items and opening green channels for tax assessment.

In recent years, Shandong has made significant efforts to build a high-level open economy, optimize the business environment, and become a hotbed for foreign investment.

In the first 11 months of this year, 2,645 new foreign-invested enterprises were set up in Shandong, up 22.6 percent year-on-year. Actual utilization of foreign capital reached $15.21 billion, up 35.5 percent.