All the three county-level cities in Qingdao, East China's Shandong province made the list of China's top 100 counties, according to CCID Consulting's latest research report on county-level economy competitiveness released on July 25.

Jiaozhou in Qingdao. [Photo/WeChat account: jiaozhouren]

Jiaozhou was ranked 17th with a GDP of 154.11 billion yuan ($21.45 billion). Pingdu was ranked 60th with a GDP of 84.56 billion yuan, while Laixi took 71st spot with a GDP of 66.24 billion yuan.

Promoting the high-quality development of county-level economies plays an important role in promoting the high-quality development of the country's economy, said Qiao Biao, vice-president of CCID.

Qingdao, which has a vast county-level area with a large population and a good development foundation, plays a critical role in driving high-quality county development in Shandong province.

Jiaozhou's development has been bolstered by major strategic platforms such as the China-SCO Local Economic and Trade Cooperation Demonstration Area and the Qingdao airport economic demonstration zone. The city has a solid foundation in the real economy, and is currently home to more than 15,000 registered industrial enterprises and more than 220,000 market entities.

In the first quarter of this year, its GDP hit 35.97 billion yuan, an increase of 5.7 percent year-on-year. Ninety-nine projects with a total investment of 107.35 billion yuan were signed during the period.

The Dazeshan town in Pingdu. [Photo/Dazhong News]

Pingdu, the largest hinterland in northern Qingdao, has been prioritizing the high-quality development of its advanced manufacturing industry. Its GDP is expected to grow at an average annual rate of about 7 percent to exceed 120 billion yuan by 2026.

Meanwhile, Laixi has been transforming itself into a high-end manufacturing base. Strategic emerging industries such as new energy vehicles, general aviation, biomedicine, green buildings, new graphite materials, next-generation information technology and intelligent manufacturing are developing quickly in the city. Laixi's economic structure and industrial system have also undergone major changes.

To boost county-level economies, Qingdao has devised development strategies based on regional resource advantages of different counties, and forged an industry chain that suits the development of the region.

An aerial view of Laixi, Qingdao. [Photo/WeChat account: Laixi Convergence Media]