An Oriental stork flies to its nest on a pole at the Yellow River Delta National Nature Reserve in Dongying, Shandong. [Photo by YANG BIN/FOR CHINA DAILY]

It has also fostered emerging industries, among them the new generation of information technology, high-end equipment, new energy and new materials, and medical and elderly care sectors.

Shandong has made a breakthrough in replacing old drivers of growth with new, Li Ganjie, secretary of the Communist Party of China Shandong Provincial Committee, said as he delivered a report to the 12th CPC Shandong Provincial Congress in May.

There were more than 20,400 high-tech enterprises in Shandong last year, 7.9 times more than in 2012. Additionally, the production value of these businesses accounted for 46.8 percent of the province's total manufacturing production value, a 17-percentage increase from 2012, according to the local government.

The province helped create 13 provincial-level competitive industrial clusters by last year, including clusters dedicated to new energy materials, information technology and marine equipment, by creating complete industrial chains and fostering a comprehensive, rules-based business environment that covers companies, institutes, financial bodies and other service agencies, rather than simply supporting a handful of leading companies.

An aerial view of downtown Jinan, Shandong. [Provided to China Daily]

These new drivers of growth have made it possible for Shandong to maintain economic growth even in the face of a complicated or challenging domestic or international environment for development, said Cui Jianhai, spokesman for the Shandong government.

The province's GDP reached 8.31 trillion yuan ($1.23 trillion) last year, a year-on-year increase of 8.3 percent.

And in the first half of this year, GDP amounted to 4.17 trillion yuan, up 3.6 percent year-on-year.

"It's not easy to make these kinds of achievements," said Cui, adding that so far this year, Shandong has taken coordinated steps to respond to the COVID-19 epidemic and to pursue socioeconomic development.

Foreign trade

Shandong's effort to cultivate new drivers of growth has also attracted foreign investment. The province saw foreign trade volume surge to 2.93 trillion yuan last year, an increase of 89 percent compared to that a decade ago, according to the local government.

In addition, as a proportion of the national total, the province's foreign trade rose from 6.4 percent in 2012 to 7.5 percent last year.

The 12th CPC Shandong Provincial Congress emphasized that the province would deepen reform and opening-up to remove institutional obstacles that restrict development, as well as work to create a new highland for opening-up and enhance the vitality of high-quality development.

The third Qingdao Multinationals Summit in June demonstrated the province's determination to turn itself into that highland. The move is also part of the province's efforts to integrate into the new national development paradigm of "dual-circulation", which relies on the domestic market as its mainstay while allowing both the domestic and the overseas markets to mutually reinforce each other.

At the summit, Shandong sealed foreign investment deals for 99 projects worth $15.6 billion with companies from 16 countries and regions. The projects are mainly in the fields of high-end equipment and chemicals, new energy, new materials, information technology, finance, marine development, agriculture and assorted services.

Denis Depoux, global managing director of global consultancy Roland Berger, told the summit that Shandong has made persistent efforts to deepen the reform and opening-up of key areas to improve its business environment, which is meaningful for business development in the province.