Yantai, a coastal city of East China's Shandong province, saw increasing growth in its foreign investment attraction in 2019, according to a news conference convened by the Yantai municipal government on Jan 7.

Accordingly, the city's contractual foreign capital utilization reached $5.5 billion, up 99.5 in the first 11 months of 2019. Its actual foreign capital utilization increased by 14.3 percent to $14.6 billion during the period.

In 2019, Yantai introduced 151 projects, each with an investment of 1 billion yuan ($142.85 million). It also attracted 35 projects among the world top 500, 51 in China's top 500, and 10 in the top 500 private companies.

In a bid to attract investment and drive emerging industry development, the local government set up eight investment offices covering the fields of smart manufacturing, new energy, new materials, and marine economy. It also established three overseas economic cooperation centers in Japan and South Korea.

A delegation of the Yantai government also visited China's Hangzhou, Shanghai, and Beijing, as well as Japan, South Korea, and Singapore in 2019, holding a series of promotional and exchange activities to introduce investment opportunities.

In the first 11 months of 2019, Yantai's contractual South Korean capital utilization reached $580 million, up 160.5 percent. The city's utilized Japanese capital increased by 83 percent to $310 million.

Located across the sea from Japan and South Korea, Yantai is one of China's first 14 coastal open cities. It has traded with more than 60 countries involved in the Belt and the Road Initiative, as well as has also attracted investment from hundreds of Fortune 500 companies, including GM, Foxconn, and Mitsubishi.