Talks held with global investors on sides of forum, Li Yang reports

The Shandong government welcomed companies in the global top 500 to invest in the coastal province at a "Shandong Night" promotion on Sunday during the 2016 China Development Forum in Beijing.

The province has more than 3,000 kilometers of coastline, accounting for one-sixth of China's total coastline, and is the third-largest economy among China's provincial regions with about $1 trillion in gross domestic product last year, roughly the size of Indonesia's GDP.

Shandong Night was co-organized by the Shandong government and China's State Council Development Research Center.

Shandong Governor Guo Shuqing, 17 mayors from the province and representatives of key Shandong enterprises that have overseas operations met a number of entrepreneurs of the world top 500 enterprises and many other industrialists at the event, and discussed future cooperation.

"Shandong is an important birthplace of the Chinese civilization, and more than 30 years of development have seen it grow into a robust economic engine in China," Guo said.

"Shandong has some competitive enterprises and expects to strengthen strategic and industrial cooperation with corporations at home and abroad, especially the world top 500 enterprises." Since Henkel Loctite set up its branch in Yantai, Shandong, in 1987, becoming the first foreign company to do so since the late 1970s, the Shandong government has approved 642 projects funded by 203 of the world's top 500 corporations.

Of those, 485 projects are still operating, with overall investment of $15.3 billion.

The main international companies investing in Shandong include Elecricite de France, the Man Group of Germany, General Motors from the United States, Kia Motor Group and LG Electronics from South Korea, Royal P&O Nedlloyd of the United Kingdom, Pirelli SPA of Italy and Volvo from Sweden.

Their projects are mainly located in the cities of Jinan, Qingdao, Yantai, Rizhao, Jining and Linyi.

Citizen (Zibo) Precision Machinery was set up in 2005 in Zibo, in the center of Shandong. Vice-general Manager Yang Bing said the company expanded from 11 employees to more than 300 over 10 years, and its registered capital volume has increased from $1.85 million to nearly $30 million.

Citizen Watch of Japan closed its branch in Shanghai and upgraded the Zibo company to its headquarters in China in 2011, because of the robust development of the latter.

Zhang Weike, foreign investment division director of the Shandong commerce bureau said: "Supplementary investment and projects have become an important channel for Shandong to attract foreign funds. Last year, 25 of the world's top 500 corporations increased their investment in the province, along with some newcomers from South Korea, Australia, Israel and France." According to the bureau, two-thirds of the projects funded by foreign companies are in Qingdao, Yantai and Jinan, and more than half of them are manufacturing industries.

Ericsson Chairman Leif Johansson is optimistic about Shandong's high and new technology industries.

He said Shandong has a market full of vitality and the prospects of bilateral cooperation between Shandong and Ericsson are "exciting" as the Shandong government aims to build a 5G network infrastructure and improve its service abilities.

Li Guangjie, a researcher of economics with the Shandong Academy of Social Sciences, said the province's main focus on the world's top 500 enterprises shows its strong intentions to upgrade its industries and restructure its economy through the spillover effects of high and new technologies and advanced management.

Toni Hagelberg, president of Volvo's construction equipment company in China, said the company has invested $256 million in Jinan since it set up in the provincial city in 2010.

The company was Volvo's only research and development center in the field in China and serves Volvo's global operations.

The Jinan-based China National Heavy Duty Truck Goup makes its trucks more fuel-efficient through cooperation with the Man Group.

It exported 27,800 trucks last year, and has been the largest heavy-duty truck exporter in China for 11 consecutive years.

"We have learned not only technology, but also experiment methods, manufacturing techniques and, more importantly, the standards system and quality management concept in which Man takes great pride," said Yun Qingtian, chief engineer of the truck group.

The Shandong governor sees more progress in the province's future. "Shandong will deepen its involvement in international competition and cooperation through the implementation of China's Belt and Road Initiative, and free trade agreements between China and South Korea, and with Australia," Guo said.