The 2014 Qingdao International Economic Partner City Roundtable, a biennial event initiated by Qingdao city this year, was held in the eastern coastal city of Shandong province on August 29.

Ma Weigang, director of Qingdao’s commerce bureau, delivered a keynote speech themed on deepening economic partnerships and promoting mutual investment and trade cooperation between Qingdao and the world.

The roundtable meeting also released the 2013/2014 Qingdao International Economic Partner City Annual Report, which reviewed the background, establishment and operation of the Partnership City mechanism in the past and set action plans for Qingdao to enhance exchanges and cooperation with its partners in the future.

Some 300 people attended the meeting, including representatives of Qingdao’s 11 international economic partners – South Korea’s Busan and Daejeon, Japan’s Kyoto and Kawasaki, the Hague in the Netherlands, France’s Dijon and Vosges, Australia’s South Australia state, New Zealand’s Auckland and Dunedin and San Francisco in the US – as well as representatives from Chicago and Japan’s Kitakyushu.

The Qingdao municipal government has adopted a global opening-up strategy that aims to highlight economic cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region, deepen economic and trade ties with Japan and South Korea, upgrade cooperation with Europe and America, consolidate traditional ties with China’s Hong Kong and Taiwan and expand cooperation with Africa.

Since August 2012, Qingdao has signed cooperation memorandums with 11 foreign cities/provinces/states in seven countries on four continents and formed International Economic Partner City relationships with them. Qingdao launched the roundtable this year in a bid to improve the International Economic Partner City work mechanism and set up an inter-governmental commerce communication platform.

During the meeting, a series of exchange activities were also held, including an investment and cooperation dialogue, a trade fair and a food and beer festival.