Qingdao WCNA is at the forefront of serving national strategies, with a particular focus on marine development. [Photo/WeChat account: qdxihaianfabu]

A signing ceremony for 36 key projects, with a total investment of 33.2 billion yuan ($4.73 billion), was held in the Qingdao Area of the China (Shandong) Pilot Free Trade Zone, or Qingdao FTZ, on Sept 23.

These projects, covering six areas including modern finance, modern marine industry, international trade, shipping logistics, advanced manufacturing, and integrated circuits, are expected to inject new vitality into the high-quality development of the zone, which is located in the Qingdao West Coast New Area (Qingdao WCNA).

These projects have large investment scales, optimal quality structures, and strong leading roles, with six projects exceeding 1 billion yuan in investment. They are expected to further enhance the modern industrial cluster of Qingdao WCNA.

The projects mainly focus on the marine industry and shipping trade finance industry. The total investment in projects focusing on the modern marine industry is 2.04 billion yuan, with China COSCO Shipping's marine equipment precision intelligent manufacturing project focusing on the new industry and logistics elements in the Qingdao FTZ, constructing a marine intelligent manufacturing industry base.

The total investment related to advanced manufacturing in these projects is 6.6 billion yuan. Continental Group's automotive parts technology center is expected to become an important technology research and development center for the group in the Asia-Pacific region.

The total investment in the signed integrated circuit industry projects is 2.7 billion yuan, which will further supplement the integrated circuit industrial chain, including design, materials, equipment manufacturing, testing, and module packaging.