Shandong high-quality development provides opportunities to international firms, individuals

The high-quality development of east China's Shandong Province featuring innovation and green development has been providing opportunities to foreigners ranging from business promoters to even internet influencers.

As leader in the country's foreign trade, the coastal province of Shandong has been making consistent efforts to push forward its high-level opening-up.

In the first half of this year, Shandong imported and exported 1.62 trillion yuan (230 billion U.S. dollars) worth of goods, marking a 4.3-percent year-over-year increase, according to the customs data released in mid-July.

The province's export to regions like the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the European Union (EU), South Korea, and Brazil continued growing during the period.

Ryan Norman, an American living in Rizhao City, has been witnessing all the changes for years as Shandong's close economic ties with the world have boosted its development.

By sharing short videos of him wondering in local markets and making dishes in a big wok, Ryan has attracted over one million followers on social media.

"I am Ryan Norman, an American from California. Now I am married with a Rizhao woman. I have been in China for 19 years. I did some business before, but in recent years I've been making short videos. If the weather is good, staying on beach makes me happier. There is a 28-kilometer sunshine seaside track and every summer, we run back and forth along the track," he said.

The high-quality development of Shandong comes together with green development. In 2023, the province generated over 158 billion kilowatt-hours of green power from new energy and renewables, increasing by 21.9 percent year on year and representing 24.4 percent of the total power generated, up 3.6 percent from 2022.

Last year, the province issued a three-year action plan on promoting green and low-carbon high-quality development, as the province is set to pursue a deep integration of culture and tourism.

"As the environment is getting better and better, more locals like to visit our tea tourism cultural park and its good reputation has attracted droves of tourists," said Yan Zaoning, director of a local tea park.

Sebastian Valcic from Germany now works in an innovation zone in Jinan, the provincial capital of Shandong. He said in recent years, he witnessed over 500 enterprises from countries like Germany, France, Finland, and Japan setting branches in the innovation zone, and these changes boosted his confidence in China's high-quality development.

"Thanks to the institutional and mechanism reform of the Jinan Innovation Zone, I, as a German, can have the opportunity to join the investment promotion department of the Jinan Innovation Zone management committee. I am responsible for attracting global investment. Over the recent years, our team has signed over 100 projects. The Jinan Innovation Zone is a national new- and high-tech development zone, a free trade zone, a comprehensive bonded zone, a pilot zone for upgrading development engine, and a sci-tech innovation financial reform pilot zone. The innovation zone has so many institutional innovations and preferential policies for expanding opening-up. Every time we have an investment promotion event, I always want the investors to know how special here is," said Sebastian Valcic, an external liaison officer of the management committee's investment promotion department.

Apart from attracting investment, Sebastian Valcic said his team will also work to connect enterprises so that they can cooperate with potential partners up and down the industrial chain.

"We will introduce companies up and down the industrial chain to the enterprises so that they can connect, communicate, and cooperate with one another," he said.

According to its three-year action plan, Shandong will continue to enhance the quality and level of its trade and investment by enhancing the efficiency of using foreign investment and deepening international economic and trade cooperation.

Shandong high-quality development provides opportunities to international firms, individuals

Shandong high-quality development provides opportunities to international firms, individuals

Since the beginning of this year, China's financial sector has further improved financing services for small and micro enterprises, particularly by addressing financing blockages for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), amidst the country's strengthened support for businesses in recent years.

The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission recently issued a document addressing the blockages in the financing process of MSMEs.

According to the document, the range of entities eligible for liability exemption upon fulfilling due diligence has been broadened to cover loans in key areas such as small and micro enterprises, self-employed individuals, owners of small and micro enterprises, and farmers. This move aims to effectively reduce the burden on grassroots credit personnel and address their concerns regarding lending.

Meanwhile, the scope of renewal has been broadened from certain small and micro enterprises to include all small and micro enterprises.

It is specified that small and micro enterprises with working capital loans and owners of small and micro enterprises, self-employed individuals, and farmers who continue to require financing after the loan terms can seek renewal support from banks.

To enhance support for small and micro enterprises, coordination among different national departments, as well as between national ministries and local governments, is growing increasingly tight.

The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission and the National Development and Reform Commission have established a coordination mechanism to bolster financing for small and micro enterprises.

For instance, special teams have been set up at the county and district levels throughout China to comprehensively assess the financing needs of small and micro enterprises.

For small and micro enterprises with genuine financing needs and good credit standing, banks are required to complete credit approvals within one month in principle, guaranteeing direct access to credit funds for these enterprises.

As of the end of August this year, the balance of inclusive loans to small and micro enterprises nationwide reached 31.9 trillion yuan (around 4.5 trillion U.S. dollars), doubling that at the end of 2017, with the average interest rate decreasing by a cumulative 3.5 percentage points.

By the end of September, the six major commercial banks - Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), Agricultural Bank of China (ABC), Bank of China (BOC), China Construction Bank (CCB), Bank of Communications (BCM), and Postal Savings Bank of China (PSBC) - have collectively extended over 2.2 trillion yuan (around 310.9 billion U.S. dollars) in newly added inclusive loans to small and micro enterprises this year.

China's financial sector further removes MSMEs' financing blockages in 2024