A city promotion conference presenting opportunities in Qingdao is held on June 20 during the third Qingdao Multinationals Summit. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

A city promotion conference themed "Opportunities in Qingdao under the New Development Pattern of Dual Circulation" was held on June 20 during the third Qingdao Multinationals Summit in the coastal city of Qingdao in East China's Shandong province.

Qingdao is pursuing high-quality development with proactive participation in China's dual-circulation development pattern that allows the domestic and overseas markets to reinforce each other, said Lu Zhiyuan, Party chief of Qingdao, at the conference.

Lu added that Qingdao has attached great importance to exchanges and cooperation with multinational companies and has attracted 173 Fortune 500 companies to invest and set up a total of 383 projects in the city in recent years.

Hasegawa Yoshiki, president of MUFG Bank (China), said that Qingdao grasped the opportunities presented by the implementation of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) to improve the business environment with measures such as promoting the construction of RCEP pilot bases, shortening customs clearance time, and optimizing logistics routes, which have brought benefits to the development of multinational companies.

In his speech, David Rizzo, chairman of Lloyds TSB Financial Group, said that the establishment of the dual-circulation development pattern is good news for multinational companies investing in China. He added that his company hopes to participate in Qingdao's smart city construction projects.

Yu Feng, president of Honeywell China, said that in his view, Qingdao, as a coastal city, is a key intersection of the dual-circulation pattern. Honeywell will actively promote the implementation of a series of solutions in Qingdao in fields such as new materials, low carbon, smart city construction, smart factories, and warehousing and logistics.

At a signing ceremony held during the third Qingdao Multinationals Summit on the same day, Qingdao inked deals totaling $2.34 billion for 13 key projects, including six Fortune 500 companies' investments.