Jiaozhou, a county-level city in Qingdao, has accelerated the construction of five strategic development platforms - to promote their quality, scale, profitability and competitiveness, so as to contribute more to the economy of Shandong province.

The five development platforms are the national-level Jiaozhou Economic and Technological Development Zone, the Jiaodong Airport Demonstration Economic Zone, the Eurasian Economic and Trade Cooperation Industrial Park, Qingdao Dagu River Holiday Resort, and Qingdao Jiaozhou Bay Logistics Park.

Sun Yonghong, Party secretary of Jiaozhou, said: "The five platforms are the main destinations of investment and business in the city, and strongly support the economic development of Jiaozhou and Qingdao."

Jiaozhou Economic and Technological Development Zone has signed agreements for 132 projects, involving total investment of 151 billion yuan ($23.54 billion), as it pursues its aim to become a high-end, intelligent and ecological center.

The zone is pursuing defined economic directions: intelligent manufacturing, intelligent cold chain covering household refrigerators, industrial freezers, cryogenics, and air conditioning, the intelligent home, and the bio-medical, e-commerce, scientific innovation center and supply chain logistics sectors.

The Jiaodong Airport Demonstration Economic Zone will rely on the new Qingdao Jiaodong Airport to advance its plans to develop into a modern, ecologically friendly airport city.

The zone has enhanced the infrastructure of the aerodrome and support transportation - including expressways, railways and subways. An airport comprehensive bonded area is designed to build up the zone as one of the most influential free trade ports in northeastern Asia.

The Eurasian Economic and Trade Cooperation Industrial Park, supported by the Ministry of Commerce, is focusing on international exchanges with Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. It aims to become a model of business cooperation among the countries and regions involved in the Belt and Road Initiative.

Elsewhere, the Dagu River Holiday Resort is focusing on the development of a modern services industry, as well as ecological protection. High-end hotels, an art center, a film and television base and a cultural park in the resort have attracted many tourists.

The resort has improved its environment, building a 15 kilometer landscape corridor around the lake. As a result it was selected as one of the first beautiful wetland parks in Shandong.

Meanwhile, Qingdao Jiaozhou Bay Logistics Park has accelerated its transformation to become a new platform for international commerce, expanding its service and transportation volumes.

Jiaozhou Bay has launched 12 freight lines for domestic and overseas destinations, including the China-Europe railway to Russia and a special line to connect with South Korea and Vietnam.

Zhang Youyu, mayor of Jiaozhou, presented a government work report to the second session of the 17th People's Congress of Jiaozhou city on Jan 16.

According to the report, Jiaozhou's GDP reached 112.9 billion yuan in 2017, an increase of 9 percent year-on-year. Per capita disposable income reached 31,230 yuan, growing by 8.5 percent compared with 2016.

In a development report on county-level cities, released by China's first County Economy Development Forum, Jiaozhou ranked 11th in the comprehensive competitiveness section and fourth in the investment potential section.

Jiaozhou city ranked first among 50 county-level cities in the fifth National Civilized City list in November.

"These awards honor more than 800,000 local residents and showcases the comprehensive development level of Jiaozhou," Zhang added.

(China Daily 01/25/2018 page12)