Shandong province in East China has cultivated a range of well-known brands across several sectors including manufacturing, tourism, culture, and food. The brand strategy has increasingly become one of the key engines for driving the province's economic growth.

At the beginning of last year, the Shandong provincial government issued the Notice on Several Measures for Jointly Building and Sharing "Shandong Good Products" to Promote High-quality Development.

Steps followed to develop "Shandong Good Products" as well as to create the "4+1" brand system for enterprises, industries, regions and geographical indication. Measures were also taken to build regional brands that are required to be "unique with Shandong characteristics, domestically and internationally famous". The steps were charted with top-level design, and strong processes were implemented to ensure continuous advancement.

Since the State Council approved the establishment of the "Chinese Brands Day" in 2017, brand awareness has been widely increased among the public and branding has become strategically important for the nation. It bears significance in not only the transformation of the manufacturing industry but also the upgrading of the consumption structure.

Enterprises in Shandong were incentivized to improve the quality of their products and service levels and were guided to accelerate the growth of their brands. The ultimate goal is to benefit customers while also sharing benefits with producers and operators.

Currently, Shandong has more than 20 kinds of products designated as "China Protected Geographical Indication Products", including Weixian radishes, Yantai apples, Longkou fensi (vermicelli made from bean starch), Zhanhua winter jujubes, and Rizhao green tea. Among the province's other successful cultural and tourism brands, Jinan's status as the "City of Springs" is well-known throughout the country.

According to an official, Shandong has established an improved incentive mechanism for trustworthiness and a punishment mechanism for dishonesty in order to enhance the brand reputation and competitiveness of "Shandong Good Products".