The eastern coastal city of Qingdao, Shandong province has made some major achievements in developing into a city of entrepreneurship, said local authorities at a recent news conference.

Qingdao is developing into a city of entrepreneurship. [Photo/VCG]

In 2021, a total of 56,700 people were given policy-based support to start their own businesses in Qingdao, and the city allocated 1.47 billion yuan ($231.41 million) in start-up support funds, both exceeding the targets set.

This year, Qingdao plans to add more than 200,000 new market entities, attract 250,000 innovative and entrepreneurial personnel, and create more than 100,000 jobs through startups.

In February 2021, the first plenary meeting of the Qingdao entrepreneurial city construction work leading group was held, which defined the working mechanisms and key tasks for building an entrepreneurial city.

Over the past year, the 37 member units of the Qingdao entrepreneurial city construction leading group have been promoting work related to industry, talent, capital and technology.

In the first three quarters of 2021, the city's GDP exceeded 1 trillion yuan, with a year-on-year growth of 10.7 percent.

From January to October 2021, the industrial added value above designated size increased by 10 percent, while fixed asset investment grew by 6.1 percent. The city's manufacturing investment increased by 30.9 percent, accounting for 95.1 percent of the city's investment growth.

During this period, the city's foreign trade increased by 36.7 percent, and its actual utilization of foreign capital reached $5.38 billion, up 18.7 percent. There were 273,000 new market entities in the city, 147.5 percent of the annual target.