This thriving city in Shandong province has handed out millions of ringgit in reward money to its star companies.

　　The authorities parted with 43 million yuan (RM19.7mil), with insiders saying it is the first time a Chinese city has spent so much to encourage famous brands.

　　Qingdao has successfully promoted its name-brand strategy and greatly benefited from unremitting efforts in the name-brand economy in the past 21 years,?said mayor Xia Geng.

　　All companies have been vigorously pursuing technological innovation in order to expand into global markets and improve competitiveness,?he added.

　　By the end of last year, Qingdao had the largest number of famous brands among Chinese cities. Such enterprises account for more than half of the city's total economic aggregate.

　　State-owned enterprises are still the mainstay of the famous brands, including Haier, Hisense and Tsingdao Beer.

　　Haier, the country's largest home electronics producer, saw its sales income exceed 100 billion yuan (RM45.8mil) last year.

　　The Haier brand is valued at more than 60 billion yuan (RM27.5mil) and is said to be among the world's top 100 famous brands.

　　To date, Qingdao's name brand strategy concept has expanded in many areas. Jiang Hongfa, an official with the Qingdao cultural and ideological progress office, said more than 10 brands had also been established in the catering sector.