Qingdao, a coastal city in East China's Shandong province. [Photo/VCG]

Qingdao, a coastal city in East China's Shandong province, held a meeting regarding marine projects on Sept 6. Eight projects from five districts in the city were presented during the meeting.

The event was attended by high-ranking officials, including the Party Secretary of Qingdao Municipal Committee Lu Zhiyuan, Qingdao Mayor Zhao Haozhi and Chairman of Qingdao Municipal People's Congress Wang Luming.

In recent years, Qingdao has identified marine projects as a key driver of the economy and has been taking steps to enhance the development of related enterprises and improve efficiency levels.

Construction of nearly all of the 90 key marine projects worth 200 billion yuan ($27.3 billion) in investments in the city have started.

The eight projects presented at the meeting are worth more than 1 billion yuan in investments and cover a wide range of industries, including shipbuilding, marine equipment manufacturing and marine drugs and bioproducts.

Among them is the West Coast Base project which is being undertaken by the 712th Research Institute of China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation. Located in the West Coast New Area of Qingdao, this facility will become the most powerful power system testing laboratory and ship electric propulsion system integration industrial base in China. 

The facility is expected to achieve complete localization of 40MW-level large ship special electric motors and significantly enhance the competitiveness of shipbuilding and ocean engineering equipment products.

Another project located in the Qingdao West Coast New Area is the Weichai (Qingdao) Marine Equipment Manufacturing Center by Weichai Group. 

Equipped with the world's most advanced boat research and manufacturing technology, the center is expected to become an internationally renowned ship research and construction base.

This year, Qingdao is focusing on developing six areas in the marine sector: marine drugs and bioproducts, marine new energies, marine equipment, seawater desalination and comprehensive utilization, fisheries, and shipping finance. To do so, local authorities have carried out investment promotion activities in Beijing and Shanghai that have resulted in the signing of 72 marine projects worth 72 billion yuan in investments.