20 Projects Totaling Approximately 80 Billion Yuan were Unveiled in a Collective Manner

On June 29, the online press conference for investment attraction of the SCO and the "Belt and Road" International Cooperation Hub for Central SOEs was held in the Qilu Hall of Qingdao International Convention Center. The first batch of 20 projects, with a total investment of approximately 80 billion yuan, including the SCO Entrepreneurship and Innovation Center, the SCO International Conference Center (SCO Cooperation Center) and Civic Square, the SCO Traffic Building, the SCODA Hotel, the SCO Culture and Art Exhibition Center, the SCO Energy Center Building, the SCO Center Project (landmark building), the SCO Logistics Center, the SCO Agricultural Building, the SCO Finance Building, and the SCO International Expo and Exhibition Center, were released in a collective manner.

Twenty-seven leading central enterprises, including China COSCO Shipping Corporation Limited, China Poly Group Corporation Limited, China Academy of Building Research, and China Communications Construction Company Limited, were present at the press conference.

Focusing on building a platform for central enterprises to support the construction of the SCODA, and a platform for central enterprises to interact and exchange with SCO countries and the countries along the “Belt and Road”, the SCODA will establish a new platform, namely the SCO and the "Belt and Road" International Cooperation Hub for Central SOEs. It will maximize the advantages of central enterprises, to create an international exhibition platform for central enterprises to showcase their new technologies, new standards and new models. This will serve to achieve information sharing and resource complementation between central enterprises and the countries along the “Belt and Road” and SCO countries, promote the integrated development of central enterprises and local industries, and build strategic emerging industrial clusters, thus promoting the agglomeration of central enterprises’ talents, information, technologies, capital and other elements in the SCODA, and helping the SCODA achieve high-quality, fast-tempo, and leap-forward development.

According to the released construction plan of the SCO and the "Belt and Road" International Cooperation Hub for Central SOEs, the Cooperation Hub is located in the SCODA and equipped with “three major functions”. The first is the function of bilateral exhibition, exchange and negotiation. The new Central Enterprise Building will be built, and branches of central enterprises and multinational companies as well as overseas business departments will be introduced to form an agglomeration effect. The second is the function of centralized demonstration of high-quality projects. It will strengthen cooperation in the construction of new infrastructure, smart city, international logistics, ecological and environmental protection and other fields in the SCODA, and establish demonstration projects for SCO countries and the countries along the “Belt and Road”, thus highlighting the influence of central enterprises in national strategies. The third is the function of comprehensive services for multinational investment. It will improve the service system of finance, legal policies, information data, foreign-related affairs and commercial affairs, intermediary services and other aspects, and support central enterprises in “going out”.

“We will build a new platform for central enterprises to support the construction of the SCODA, and for interaction and exchanges between central enterprises and SCO countries and the countries along the ‘Belt and Road’. This platform will maximize the advantages of central enterprises in talents, capital, expertise, technologies, information and other aspects to establish and improve a policy system to support international cooperation under the ‘Belt and Road’ Initiative, and build a center for information exchange and cooperative trading between central enterprises and SCO countries and the countries along the 'Belt and Road', and a base for central enterprises to display and promote the development of industrial clusters, thus forming a normalized matchmaking mechanism with the business industries of SCO countries and the countries along the ‘Belt and Road’, and shaping the experience paradigm of international cooperation that can be replicated and promoted,” said Meng Qingsheng, Deputy Director of the Administrative Committee of the SCODA.

20 key projects, with a total investment of 80 billion yuan, including the SCO Entrepreneurship and Innovation Center, and the SCO International Conference Center (SCO Cooperation Center) and Civic Plaza, were released on site. Ten projects, with a total investment of 42.76 billion yuan, including the SCO Finance Building and the SCO Plaza Area in the SCODA, were signed at the conference.

Pei Minshan, head of China Communications Construction Company Limited (CCCC), said that the press conference launched and accelerated the construction of the International Business Club for Central SOEs, and that CCCC would maximize its advantage in the planning and construction of overseas parks, actively participate in bilateral investment in the countries along the “Belt and Road”, and concentrate more resources in international exchanges, thus helping Qingdao explore new horizons of opening up.

It is understood that the SCODA is located in the northwest of Jiaozhou Bay, Qingdao, with a planned area of 108 square kilometers. It aims to expand cooperation in international logistics, modern trade, bilateral investment, commerce, tourism and cultural exchanges, allow Qingdao to effectively play its role in the construction of the “Belt and Road” New Eurasia Land Bridge Economic Corridor and maritime cooperation, strengthen the interconnection between China and other SCO countries, and vigorously promote the formation of an opening-up pattern of linkage between the land and the sea as well as two-way mutual aid between the East and the West.

The construction of the SCO Logistics Center will rely on Qingdao Qianwan Port, 4F-Class Jiaodong International Airport, and CR Intermodal Container Center Station, to improve the hub function of sea and land ports, and highlight “smooth channel, strengthened hub, improved efficiency, platform building, industry cluster, and optimized environment”, thus preliminarily shaping an efficient international logistics operation system that features a “channel + hub + network + platform”. The SCO Multimodal Transport Center was opened, and the "Qilu" Eurasian block trains and the “SCO Special Line” were operated successively. Now there are a total of 7 international block trains. During the construction of the Modern Trade Center, policies and measures for high-quality trade development were implemented to promote innovation in trade forms, foster new advantages in trade, and expand multilateral and bilateral trade cooperation with SCO countries and the countries along the “Belt and Road”. The China-SCO Countries Cooperation Hub and the SCO Special Commodity Exhibition Hall will be built to make further efforts to introduce the business entities of trade service. On May 7, a press conference was held on the Implementation Measures of the China-SCO Local Economic and Trade Cooperation Demonstration Area on Accelerating the Cultivation of New Competitive Advantages in International Trade. 20 high-value policies were introduced, and for enterprises that engage in import and export trade with SCO countries, a support fund of up to 0.3% of the import and export value would be granted. During the construction of the Bilateral Investment and Cooperation Center, in-depth scientific and technological cooperation in the fields of new materials, biomedicine, artificial intelligence, and high-end equipment manufacturing were strengthened, and all-round cooperation and exchanges in the fields of agriculture and energy were deepened. In 2019, the SCO International Investment and Trade Expo was organized to expand the negotiation, exhibition and exchange of bilateral investment projects with SCO countries, and promote cooperation with overseas cooperative areas. During the construction of the Commerce, Tourism and Cultural Exchange Center, the construction of Qingdao China-SCO Countries Cooperation Hub was launched to comprehensively promote cooperation in tourism, culture, sports, education, talents, and legal services. During the construction of the Maritime Cooperation Center, efforts were made to build a sea gate facing East Asia and the Pacific for SCO countries. Additionally, it was necessary to strengthen cooperation and innovation in marine science and technology to build a platform for international marine exchanges and cooperation; to improve marine ports and industries, comprehensively utilize marine resources, and protect marine environment, so as to benefit land from sea and boost sea via land, and deepen marine exchanges and cooperation with SCO countries and the countries along the “Belt and Road” by way of pooling together maritime cooperation resource elements.