The eastern coastal city of Qingdao, Shandong province was ranked 38th in the 31st edition of the Global Financial Centers Index (GFCI 31), which was published on March 24.

Qingdao boasts a vibrant financial industry. [Photo/Guanhai News]

GFCI 31 provides evaluations of future competitiveness and rankings for 119 financial centers around the world. Serving as a valuable reference for policy and investment decision-makers, it has been jointly published twice per year by Z/Yen, a leading commercial think-tank in London, and the China Development Institute in Shenzhen since 2015.

Qingdao has made the top 50 global financial centers 11 times since its initial inclusion in the GFCI in March 2016.

Qingdao is an economic powerhouse in Shandong province. [Photo/VCG]

In the past two years, Qingdao's financial industry has developed rapidly. At the end of last year, the balance of local and foreign currency deposits in Qingdao financial institutions was 2.24 trillion yuan ($351.51 billion), 186.77 billion yuan more than at the beginning of 2021, and the balance of local and foreign currency loans was 2.41 trillion yuan, 302.43 billion yuan more than at the beginning of 2021. The added value of the financial sector accounted for 6 percent of the city's GDP.

In 2021, Qingdao added 15 listed companies from home and abroad, bringing the total number to 72, which places it first in Shandong province.