1.Positive Economic Growth Trend,Third Largest GDP in Northern China

In 2022, Qingdao's GDP reached a total of 1.492 trillion yuan (RMB), ranking it as the 13th largest among mainland Chinese cities and 3rd in northern China. The total retail sales of consumer goods amounted to 589.18 billion yuan, ranking second among cities in northern China.While the city's foreign trade import and export volume exceeded 910 billion yuan, ranking among the top in China.

As of the end of 2023, Qingdao is home to 85 listed companies and approximately 770,000 enterprises. The city boasts around 6,700 high-tech enterprises, with the total number of market entities reaching about 2.05 million. 

Qingdao is also one of the most active cities in China for corporate investment. According to the data released by the Qichacha Big Data Research Institute in early 2024, from 2018 to the first three quarters of 2023, a total of 49,000 enterprises have invested in Qingdao, ranking the 10th in China; From the perspective of the frequency of investment and the frequency of being invested, Qingdao ranks the 9th in the country, and is one of the only two northern cities among the top 10 cities of China. It is also one of the two non-provincial capitals and municipalities on the list.

Qingdao: A leading City for Corporate Investment (Source: qcc.com)

2. High Degree of Economic Openness

In 2022, Qingdao approved 693 new foreign investment projects. By 2023, the city had introduced 28 new projects from Fortune Global 500 companies, bringing the total number of such projects to 367. In the same year,  Shandong Province recognized five regional headquarters of multinational corporations, with four of them located in Qingdao. Additionally, as of the end of 2022, there were about 14,000 foreign-funded enterprises in Qingdao.

Part of the Foreign Enterprises Established in Qingdao