Containers are unloaded at Qingdao Port in Shandong province in March. [Photo by Yu Fangping/For China Daily]

This year, Shandong has issued 14 guidelines to stabilize foreign trade and foreign investment and encouraged foreign investment in research and development centers, continuously strengthening policy support and optimizing the business environment.

According to Huang Tian, a debug manager of a paper project of Asia Symbol (Shandong) Pulp and Paper, the construction of this paper production project, with an annual output of 500,000 metric tons, was nearly four months ahead of the original plan.

During project construction, the Rizhao local government has provided high-quality service guarantees for project establishment, land, environmental protection, construction, water, electricity, and heating.

High-quality services have attracted more investment. Since 2005, foreign shareholders of Asia Symbol have increased their capital in Rizhao 27-fold, with a total investment of nearly 30 billion yuan ($4.13 billion).

The third Conference of Great Business Partners was held in March, with 457 investment projects signed into effect. In addition, the 2023 Hong Kong-Macao-Shandong Week was held in Hong Kong and Macao, and 38 key project agreements were signed on-site, with a total investment of $5.65 billion.

In the first eight months of this year, Shandong actually utilized $13.25 billion in foreign investment. There are 21 projects with investments exceeding $100 million, and the actual utilization of foreign investment is $3.38 billion.

Shandong will continue to focus on the development needs of multinational companies in Shandong and optimize the business environment.