Recently, the Shandong Provincial Government Information Office held a special press conference titled “Serving Multinational Corporations—Shandong in Action” in the Qingdao National High-tech Industrial Development Zone. The event took place at AstraZeneca’s inhaler production base—the company’s largest globally—which is also Shandong’s first pharmaceutical manufacturing project led by a multinational firm. The event highlighted Shandong’s high-quality services and shared development opportunities with multinational companies.

AstraZeneca is an innovation-driven global bio-pharmaceutical company operating in over 100 countries and regions, with 28 manufacturing bases in 16 countries. China is AstraZeneca’s second-largest global market. Over the past three years, the company has continued investing in Shandong, with total investment now reaching USD 750 million.

Qingdao has capitalized on its resource advantages and strengthened collaboration with multinational corporations, striving to provide a better business environment and development platform. So far, 179 Fortune 500 companies have invested in 412 projects in Qingdao. The press conference focused on AstraZeneca’s inhaler production base, which achieved contract signing, land acquisition, and construction permits all in 2023. In 2024, it commenced construction and completed the building framework within the same year, making it a model case of Qingdao’s efficient services for foreign investment.

The Shandong Provincial Committee and Government place great importance on cooperation with multinational corporations. In 2024, the province kicked off the year with its first major event—the “Provincial Conference on High-Level Opening-Up and High-Quality Investment Promotion.” It also issued the “Implementation Opinions on Creating a New High Ground for High-Level Opening-Up,” offering comprehensive services to multinational corporations investing in Shandong.

Shandong has continuously improved its market-oriented, law-based, and international business environment, upgrading its services for multinational firms. Since 2015, it has rolled out version 1.0 of its support system, including the “Service Ambassador System” for key foreign-funded enterprises. Over 3,000 service ambassadors offer considerate services. In 2020, version 2.0 launched an online platform for stabilizing foreign trade and investment, resolving over 1,400 issues for foreign companies with customized support. In 2023, version 3.0 introduced special campaigns for on-site support and problem-solving through provincial, municipal, and county-level coordination, addressing more than 4,500 issues.

Shandong’s commerce authorities have also implemented actions to protect and support foreign companies, regularly hosting events like the Qingdao Multinational Corporation Leaders Summit, Hong Kong–Shandong Week, and Singapore–Shandong Week. Communication mechanisms such as advisory meetings, roundtables, and cooperation lists are in place to interpret policies and facilitate direct connections. A cross-departmental complaint coordination mechanism has also been established with 196 agencies to legally protect the rights and interests of foreign investors. Moving forward, the province will strengthen departmental cooperation, optimize the development environment, improve service levels, and address operational challenges to fully support the high-quality development of multinational corporations in Shandong.