Qingdao

China COUNTRY

9,046,200 CITY POPULATION

Mayor-Council GOVERNMENT TYPE

Introduction

Qingdao is a major sub-provincial city in eastern Shandong province, China. Located on the western shore of Yellow Sea coast, Qingdao is a major nodal city on the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road arm of the Belt and Road Initiative that connects East Asia with Europe, and has the highest GDP of any city in the province. It is located on the south coast of the Shandong Peninsula at the eastern entrance to Jiaozhou Bay, one of the best natural harbours in northern China. It has jurisdiction over six districts and four county-level cities, and As of 2014 has a population of 9,046,200 with an urban population of 6,188,100.

Lying across the Shandong Peninsula and looking out to the Yellow Sea to its south, it borders the prefectural cities of Yantai to the northeast, Weifang to the west and Rizhao to the southwest. The world's longest sea bridge, the Jiaozhou Bay Bridge, links the main urban area of Qingdao with Huangdao district, straddling the Jiaozhou Bay sea areas.

It is also the site of the Tsingtao Brewery, the second largest brewery in China.In 2018, Qingdao ranked 31st in the Global Financial Centres Index published by the Z/Yen Group and China Development Institute, the other Chinese cities on the list being Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Tianjin, Chengdu, Hangzhou and Dalian. In 2007, Qingdao was named as one of China's top ten cities by the Chinese Cities Brand Value Report, which was released at the 2007 Beijing Summit of China Cities Forum.

As Qingdao continues to attract tourists and international businesses from around the world, the abundance of natural beauty, talented human resources, three central business districts, and the new Blue Silicon Valley continue to lure foreign investment.

In 2008, Qingdao hosted the Sailing Regattas of the 29th Olympic Games as well as the 13th Paralympic Games at the Olympic Sailing Centre & International Marina. In 2009, China’s Sailing City welcomed sailors from the Volvo Ocean Race (VOR 2008-2009).

Data and Facts

730km of coastline gives Qingdao excellent port access
Qingdao has received China's Top 10 Economics Dynamic Cities and Top 10 Business Cities Awards from the government
The total amount of paid-up foreign capital was $2.15 billion and total foreign trade $20.18 billion in the first half of 2007
Companies from 84 countries and regions conduct business operations in Qingdao. About 160 enterprises are partly funded by the World's Top 500 businesses
There were 8,340 foreign investment enterprises with a total investment of $29.27 billion and registered capital of $15.89 billion at the end of June
Qingdao has a temperate, four-season, monsoon-influenced climate that lies in the transition between the humid subtropical and humid continental regimes, but favouring the former

Administration

Qingdao came under the effective control of the Nationalist government in 1929 and became a special municipality. Port development continued, and its trade overtook that of its rival, Tianjin, about 1930, after which it continued to expand at the expense of Tianjin. The Japanese occupied the city in 1938 and held it until 1945. During that period, considerable industrial development occurred. By 1941 Qingdao had major modern cotton mills, locomotive and railway car works and repair facilities, engineering shops, and factories manufacturing rubber, matches, chemicals, and dyestuff.

The sub-provincial city of Qingdao has 7 districts (区; qū) and 3 county-level cities. Geographically, there are four districts (Shinan, Shibei, Licang and Laoshan) constituting a peninsula on the east coast of the Jiaozhou Bay as the core urban area, one (Chengyang) on the north coast and one (Xihai'an) on the west coast of the Yellow Sea.

Economy

An important region in Eastern China, Shandong Province has seen substantial change in its economic landscape in recent years. Much of this development has been concentrated in Qingdao. Qingdao has seen rapid development. With an annual growth rate of 18.9 percent in 2006, the city's GDP reached 42.3 billion, ranking first in Shandong Province and tenth out of China's top 20 cities. GDP per capita comprised ¥52,895 in 2008. In 2006, Qingdao was ranked one of six «golden cities» by the World Bank, out of 120 Chinese cities assessed on factors including investment climate and government effectiveness.Until 2018, Qingdao's GDP reaches RMB 1200.15 billion, but a little bit negatively increased in 2019.Internationally, Qingdao is perhaps best known for its Tsingtao Brewery, founded by a German-British joint venture in 1903 that produces Tsingtao beer, the best-known Chinese export beer. It is also home to Haier, a large white goods manufacturer, and Hisense, a major electronics company. In 2002 guitar manufacturers Epiphone opened a factory in Qingdao.In 1984 the Chinese government named a district of Qingdao a Special Economic and Technology Development Zone . South Korea and Japan in particular made extensive investment in the city. Approximately 80,000 South Korean citizens reside there. In terms of primary industry, Qingdao has an estimated 50,000 acres of arable land. Qingdao has a zigzagging pattern coastline, and thus possesses an invaluable stock of fish, shrimp, and other sea resources.

Business Environment

In 1984 Qingdao was designated one of China’s “open” cities as part of a new policy inviting foreign investment. Since then the city has undergone rapid economic development. The region’s zone of economic and high-technology development is located on the western shore of Jiaozhou Bay, opposite central Qingdao. Major enterprises headquartered in the city, such as the Haier Group, have gained in reputation in the country as well as abroad.

Qingdao has constantly been at the forefront of innovation in the way the seaside city utilizes foreign investment, and is leveraging the favorable policies put in place for the Wealth Management Financial Comprehensive Reform Pilot Area to make it attractive for foreign financial institutions and equity investment firms to set up operations here. With the local government putting in place policies to boost the development of the financial sector and support the shift from a model that depended on traditional methods to one that embraces the new, the future for Qingdao looks promising in terms of continuing to attract foreign investment.

Since the establishment of the Pilot Area, eight foreign banks including Australia and New Zealand Bank (China) Company Limited ("ANZ") have established operations in Qingdao, bringing the total number of foreign banks with a presence in the city to 17, accounting for 75 percent of the total in Shandong province. Three foreign-invested banks, including DBS and ANZ Bank, established operations in the city in 2015 following the city's receiving of approval from the Chinese government in 2014 to establish the Wealth Management Financial Comprehensive Reform Pilot Area. Foreign-invested financial institutions that set up operations in Qingdao have played an important role in enhancing the city's financial openness as they have helped build a comprehensive financial industry chain while providing strong support for the local real economy.

Qingdao is substantially lowering the barrier to market entry, opening its service sector even wider to the outside world, and protecting the lawful rights and interests of foreign investors who invest there, as the city's government recognizes the importance of building a world-class business environment.

Infrastructure

There are a total of 1,145 km of roads in the Qingdao area, with nearly 500 km of expressways. These National Trunk Highway System Expressways begin or pass through in Qingdao.On June 30, 2011, the longest bridge over water opened in Qingdao. The bridge, Haiwan Bridge, is 26.4 miles long and connects Qingdao to an offshore island, Huangdao. It would easily cross the English Channel and is almost three miles longer than the previous record-holder, the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway in the American state of Louisiana. Haiwan Bridge is supported by more than 5,000 pillars and costs about 10 billion yuan which is about 1.5 billion dollars. The bridge was designed by the Shandong Gausu Group and the construction lasted for four years. Haiwan Bridge cut the commute between the city of Qingdao and the sprawling suburb of Huangdao by 30 minutes. At least 10,000 workers toiled in two teams around the clock to build the bridge, which was constructed from opposite ends. The number of containers reached 3.41 million twenty-foot equivalent units of cargoes. By 2011, the port had become the world’s sixth-busiest by Total Cargo Volume, having handled 372 million tonnes of cargo in that year. As of 2016, it was the 8th in the world in terms of TEUs .The Orient Ferry connects Qingdao with Shimonoseki, Japan. There are two ferry lines connecting Qingdao with South Korea. The New Golden Bridge II operates between Qingdao and Incheon, and the Blue Sea Ferry operates between Qingdao and Gunsan.Qingdao port also includes a number of large adjacent ports including Dongjiakou.The Qingdao Liuting International Airport, 23 km away from city centre, is served by 13 domestic and international airlines, operating 94 routes, 12 of which are international and regional. In 2011, Qingdao Liuting International Airport was the 16th busiest airport in the People's Republic of China with 11,716,361 passengers. A new civil aviation airport with much larger capacities will be built in Jiaozhou District.Qingdao's railway development was picked up during the late 1990s. It is at the beginning of the Jiaoji Railway. Qingdao's city proper has some major railway stations, Qingdao Station, Sifang Station, Cangkou Station, Great-Seaport Station, etc.D and G series High speed trains travel on the Jiaoji High Speed Railway and reach speeds of 300 km/h on the Jinan-Qingdao Section.

All of the buses and trolleybuses can be accessed using the Qingdao Public Traffic IC Card , which uses radio frequencies so the card does not have to physically touch the scanner. After that, all public transportation companies use Qingdaotong Card, the last company started to use this card is Zhenqing bus company located in The West Coast New Area of Qingdao in 2019.Non air-conditioned buses cost 1 yuan , The volume of road passenger transport approaches 737 million per year. The Public Transport Brand of 'Ri-Xin Bus ' is also known in China. There are a number of taxi companies in Qingdao including Yiqing Company, Zhongqing Company, Jiaoyun Company and, Huaqing Company.

After getting the approval from the State Council, the government announced on 18 August 2009 that Qingdao is ready to spend more than 29 billion yuan before 2016 on its subway construction. Construction of 54.7 km of subway line 3 was completed before 2016 with a total investment of 29.2 billion yuan . Metro Line 3 is the first line in function and opened on 16 December 2015. In the long term, the city plans to build eight subway lines in downtown and some suburban districts, which account for 231.5 km in future.

Technology

Qingdao is a major coastal city in Shandong Province, China’s third wealthiest province by GDP. Qingdao has maintained its position as an innovative maritime hub city through continuous investment in state of the art facilities, technology innovations, talents and robust industry support and development. This year, the cityplans to strenghthen its blue economy by launching 100 key marine projects.

As a major industrial center, Qingdao is also home to four top automation companies in the world: ABB (Switzerland), Fanako (Japan) Kuka (germany), and Anchuan (Japan).

Social Wellness and Human Resources

Qingdao, an important cultural centre, is the seat of Ocean University of China (1924), Qingdao University (1993), and other institutions of higher education. The city is also one of China’s main centres for the pursuit of marine science and technology. The beautiful beaches and unique style of city construction make Qingdao a popular tourist destination in the country. The city was selected to host the yachting events during the 2008 Olympic Games. Pop. (2006 est.) city, 2,654,340; (2009 est.) urban agglom., 3,268,000.

By the end of 2006, Qingdao was estimated to be the home of about 8 million inhabitants, of which around 3 million reside in the Qingdao urban area. Another estimated 5 million live in other cities under Qingdao's jurisdiction. The annual birth rate is calculated around 76,507, with a birth rate of 10.15 per year per thousand, and a death rate of 6.32, both calculated on an annual basis. Qingdao is home to 38 Chinese ethnic minorities, which account for 0.14% of the city's total population. There is a large Korean community in Qingdao. By 2009, there were approximately 100,000 Koreans working, studying and living in Qingdao, which makes Qingdao the second in terms of Korean population in China, following Beijing which has about 200,000 Koreans.

The unique combination of German and Chinese architecture in the city centre, combined with German demographic roots and a large Korean expatriate population, gives Qingdao a distinct atmosphere. An old saying described Qingdao as a city of “red tiles, green trees, blue sky and blue sea.” This saying indeed gives a picture of bird view of Qingdao. A larger number of areas in former foreign styles are well preserved.