Yu Yongxin, director of the Yantai municipal publicity department, makes a keynote speech at 2019 China Brand Forum on Dec 18 in Beijing. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Yantai is looking to cultivate and promote local brands in an effort to become an international coastal city with a strong industrial foundation.

Yu Yongxin, director of the Yantai municipal publicity department, made the remarks at the 2019 China Brand Forum on Dec 18 held in Beijing.

The forum has been held by People's Daily every year since 2015. This year's event welcomed more than 300 attendees and aimed to review brand development, explore the future of Chinese brands, and promote Chinese brands worldwide. At the forum, Yantai was awarded the title of "2019 Chinese Brand City".

Yu briefed attendees on the city's efforts in regional brand construction at the forum.

The government is particularly focused on the promotion of its agricultural products, including wine, cherry, sea cucumber and Longkou fensi (vermicelli made from bean starch).

The city's fruit, wine and sea products are extremely popular across China. Yantai apples, with a brand value of 14.14 billion yuan ($2.02 billion), have been the leading fruit brand in China for 11 consecutive years.

To stimulate local agricultural development, the city has been stressing the importance of innovation, quality improvement and marketing platforms.

Yantai-based wine producer Changyu Group has been listed among China's top 500 most valuable brands for 15 consecutive years, with a brand value of 22.2 billion yuan.

As for marine equipment manufacturing, Blue Whale 1 and Blue Whale 2, ultra-deep-water drilling rigs built by Yantai CIMC Raffles, helped China become the first country to explore gas hydrates.

Seventeen Yantai companies were included in the 2019 Chinese brand value list, with a total brand value of 76.85 billion yuan.

Moving forward, the city government will continue to bolster its regional branding, promotion and market expansion to stimulate local industrial development.