Qingdao is striving hard to establish itself as an international innovation hub, with initiatives aimed at strengthening the strategic science and technology force, marine-related industries, innovative industry clusters, scientific and technological innovation service, and other areas.

Qingdao aims to build itself into an international innovation hub. [Photo/Guanhai News]

This year, Qingdao will emphasize the city's advantages in marine scientific research to expand its marine-related industries. The Marine National Laboratory will be established with the help of a group of outstanding scientists. In pilot national laboratories, it will also lay the groundwork for the commercialization of marine research findings.

The city will access prospective science and technology companies, cultivate 100 new marine-related high-tech enterprises, and encourage the listing of two new marine-related high-tech enterprises, with a focus on high-end marine equipment, marine information, and marine medicine.

It will construct a number of high-end marine innovation platforms, fully utilize the Chinese Academy of Sciences Ocean Research Center, and construct facilities such as an integrated air, sky, and sea observation network.

Qingdao will set up an expert service team to help enterprises develop healthily according to high-tech enterprise standards, and bring the number of high-tech enterprises to more than 6,400.

It will provide better management services for high-tech enterprises, and encourage regulated industrial enterprises to speed up the construction of research and development institutions.

It aims to build more than 700 new research and development institutions, and increase the coverage of such institutions to 65 percent of regulated industrial enterprises.

The city will further promote the integration of artificial intelligence with the real economy, deepen reform and innovation, optimize the institutional environment and boost the innovation vitality of enterprises.