This year marks the first year of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) period. The second Qingdao Multinationals Summit is scheduled to kick off on July 15. As the host of the summit, Shandong will explore new opportunities with multinational corporations and seek new development opportunities.

At present, Shandong is striving to build a new hub for opening up. The ecological protection and high-quality development of the Yellow River Basin, the China (Shandong) Pilot Free Trade Zone, as well as other national strategies and platforms have increased Shandong's appeal to multinational companies. 

These enterprises have become an important key to Shandong's opening up efforts. The province has also provided a platform for the development of multinational companies. The two sides will have a broader space for cooperation.

More than 200 companies have settled in the Shandong Yellow River Digital Economy Industrial Park in Jinan, the provincial capital, including the northern regional headquarters of JD Cloud&AI and Shandong Trusted Cloud Information Technology Research Institute .

After the industrial park is fully put into operation, it will become a national digital economy innovation center. It will carry out world's leading source technology research and development innovation, as well as collaborative innovation in the fields of smart cities and digital economy.

The industrial park is one of the hundreds of projects started at Jinan Start-up Area of Growth and Drivers Transformation. The new generation of information technology industry, represented by digital economy, is one of the "top 10 industries" that are key to the development of Shandong's new growth drivers. 

Sun Bin, vice-mayor of Jinan, said at a press conference that the Jinan start-up area is a key part of implementing the Yellow River strategy. It not only promotes the shift of new growth drivers from old ones, but also requires that priority is given to ecological protection, highlighting the important position of the Yellow River.

Jinan has planned 300 key projects, with a total investment of 1.6 trillion yuan ($247.7billion), this year. According to Xie Kun, director of the Jinan Development and Reform Commission, most of the projects are closely related to the implementation of the Yellow River Strategy.

In addition to the construction of the start-up area, Jinan has also planned the country's first water-saving oriented national new area, the lower Yellow River green ecological corridor, and the Yellow River National Park. These projects will lead the strategy of ecological protection and high-quality development of the Yellow River basin. 

Shandong has a unique location advantage. The north and south of the province connect the Yangtze River Delta and the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei economic zone. The east and west of the province connect the Maritime Silk Road and the Silk Road Economic Belt. Its market demand is huge, with the total retail sales of consumer goods exceeding 3 trillion yuan, which ranks second in China. 

Shandong has a strong economic foundation. It is home to more than 14,000 high-tech enterprises and 334 listed companies. In addition, Shandong has a complete industrial system, an open investment environment, and profound cultural heritages. Investing in Shandong can not only bring good benefits, but the benefits of industrial agglomeration can also drive the development of multinational companies. 

According to the Shandong Provincial Department of Commerce, 1,074 foreign-invested enterprises were newly established in Shandong from January to May, an increase of 31.5 percent year-on-year. The actual use of foreign capital was $8.32 billion in that period, an increase of 70.7 percent year-on-year and 30.9 percent higher than the country's total, with the rate of increase ranking first in the country. 

The first Qingdao Multinationals Summit was held in 2019, which attracted 115 Fortune 500 companies and 284 industry leaders from 35 countries (regions), among which more than 500 guests were president of the China region of their companies.

The upcoming event will once again provide a platform for multinational companies to cooperate with China, as well as to build a new bridge for exchanges and mutual learning between multinational companies, Shandong, and China. In the future, the province expects to have more and deeper cooperation with multinational companies.