Agreements for eight projects were signed online between transnational corporations from South Korea and Yantai during the South Korea Special of the "Connecting Shandong with Fortune Global 500" event on Oct 22.

The projects received $169 million in investment and $116 million in contractual foreign investment and focused on high-end chemicals, equipment manufacturing, food processing, healthcare, and services.

Yantai, a coastal city in Shandong province, boasts a flourishing real economy and strong emerging industries, said Zhang Shuping, Party secretary of Yantai, at the Yantai venue of the conference.

Yantai is a part of the China (Shandong) Pilot Free Trade Zone, the Shandong International Investment Industrial Park, and the Shandong comprehensive pilot area for replacing old growth drivers with new ones.

Zhang expressed hope that more South Korean entrepreneurs would come to Yantai to start businesses and promote more extensive cooperation.

Yantai is home to more South Korean enterprises than any other city in Shandong province.

So far, 4,018 Korean-funded projects have been established in the city, and actual use of South Korean capital totals $6.23 billion.

The conference is meant to strengthen Shandong's ties with transnational corporations from South Korea. It had main venues in Jinan and Seoul, as well as sub-venues in 16 Shandong cities.