The 11th Weihai Online Food Expo will be held from 24 to 27 July 2020 in the form of an online cloud exhibition. We’d like to invite the exhibitors and purchasers from Europe to participate in this online Expo.

The Weihai Online Food Expo is focusing on and promoting the quality and safety of exported food and agricultural products. It is taking “based on Weihai, highlighting Japan and South Korea, facing Northeast Asia, radiating the world” as the goal, and “internationalization, marketization, specialization, branding” as the guidance. Based on the advantages of the Weihai food industry, the Expo gathers global food industry resources, and has been successfully held for ten times since 2010. It has gradually grown into a local high-end international exhibition, making due contributions to the transformation and upgrading of the Weihai food industry and the rapid development of the modern service industry.

This year, in the context of the normalization of epidemic prevention and control, according to the unified deployment of the Weihai municipal party committee and government, in order to further strengthen the popularity and influence of our city’s brand self exhibition, and innovate and study a new mode of exhibition service, the Food Expo of this year will be held through the online cloud exhibition mode, guiding, mobilizing and supporting enterprises to participate in online exhibition, making full use of 5G, big data and other modern information technology, and promoting “cloud exhibition”, “cloud docking”, “cloud negotiation” and “cloud signing” within and outside the exhibition period. The Expo will build a “cloud” platform for the Weihai food trade and realize the “never ending” Food Expo.

Participation in the Expo is free of charge.

The website of this Expo: http://www.weihaishipin.com/index_expo.htm

The link for overseas promotion: https://weihaifoodexhibition.linkjoint.cn/

Zhang Haibo

On June 12, 2018, President Xi Jinping visited Weihai and put forward the ardent expectation that “Weihai should develop in the direction of fine city”, which pointed out the way forward for Weihai. Over the past two years, we have kept in mind the President’s entrustment and promote the development from two aspects. First, the idea of “fine city” was used to guide all aspects of politics, economy, culture, society and ecological civilization and to handle five relationships between the construction of “fine city” and economic development, rural revitalization, ecological environment, ocean management and opening up to the world, and to create a new situation of “Fine City, Happy Weihai”. Second, precise planning, exquisite design, careful construction, elaborate management, precise service and smart growth were focused to build Weihai city into a good model for fine city.

1. To seek a breakthrough in top-level design by precise planning. There is no precedent to follow in building a fine city, so we start with top-level design, earnestly sum up the experience, and widely collect opinions to establish laws and standards system for fine city. The fine city evaluation index system of Weihai has been formulated, and 50 core indicators have been included, covering ecological environment, urban characteristics, public services, development drivers and social governance, which will be issued as a local standard soon. The compilation of the Outline of Weihai Fine City Construction Planning is expected to be completed in the third quarter of this year, and the “14th Five-Year Plan” and more long-term development goals and construction strategies will be formulated to guide the fine city construction. The Regulations on the Construction of Fine City have been drafted regarding the code of conduct in terms of urban planning and design, urban management and public services, which will be approved by the People’s Congress of Shandong Province by September. Meanwhile, in accordance with these regulations and index systems, some planning, including urban area, main functional area, marine function area and rural area were integrated into a whole new one, which will be the blueprint for the overall construction of fine city.

2. To seek a breakthrough in highlighting the characteristics of the city by exquisite design. Based on the resource advantages of mountains, sea, bays, beaches, islands and springs in Weihai, as well as its unique historical culture, red culture and marine culture, the pilot project of urban design has been actively carried out to show the characteristics, keep the “memory” and polish the “features” of the city. First, to design the city like a scenic spot, maintain the overall style of “mountain and sea view”, and to integrate with the superior environment and the city skyline to achieve the goal of showing the unique characteristics of Weihai’s landscape. The second is to design each area and building with the artist’s vision, historical and cultural blocks, and transportation hubs are the key areas. A three-dimensional data platform is being built and characteristic blocks, gardens, landscape lighting, streets and urban sculptures will be well designed to create a delicate and unique urban space. The third is to make sure the Regulations on the Protection of Urban Landscape of Weihai City to be well implemented. At present, Weihai’s old town area, Qixia Street, Shengxiao Street and Xinwei Road and other characteristic blocks renovation project has already been started. A large number of “new landmarks” are scattered in the city, and many “internet-famous sites” are going viral online.

3. To seek breakthroughs in improving the quality of the city by careful construction. Take the opportunity of “Urban Renewal” and “Beautiful City” projects to continuously improve the carrying capacity, inclusiveness and livability of Weihai. The first is to resolve the “troubles” of urban growth. 104,000 housing certificates problems involving the 77,000 households were resolved in 2018; all idle and uncompleted projects have been restarted since 2019, 125 projects have been re-activated so far and the rest will be finished within the year. The renovation of inefficient urban land projects kicked off this year. The second is to comprehensively improve the quality of urban life. The protection and development of 14 historic blocks have been implemented, and the construction of museum clusters is under way. The Urban Exhibition Center, Urban International Exchange Center and Industrial Innovation Exhibition Center are being built and the construction of Harbour Park, Jinxianding Park and the 1000 km coastal walkway has been launched to create a unique “A coastline of 1,000 kilometers just like a beautiful landscape painting”.The third is to solve the bottleneck of long-term urban development. “Water scarcity” was resolved by various ways and the construction of major infrastructure projects, such as the Weihai New Airport, Lairong High-speed Rail, Wenlai Expressway and underground comprehensive pipeline corridor are on the fast track. The city area has reached 37.5 square kilometers and 40.6 kilometers of the corridor has been completed so far.

4. To seek breakthroughs in innovative governance by elaborate management. Modern concepts, scientific methods and effective means were exploited to promote the modernization of urban governance systems. First, a three-level grid Governance Center was established with 6,090 assistants to sort out 240 grid lists. The second is to adhere to intelligent construction. Taking the provincial new smart city pilot project as an opportunity to start the construction of the smart city operation center and the “City Brain” platform to make a more intelligent city, a more convenient life and a more safe society. The platform will be put into operation this year. The third is to promote integration. A comprehensive coordination system of urban governance and a “woodpecker” fast reflection mechanism have been established and a new app to promote communication between citizens and government was developed, through which 13 categories and 234 sub-categories of urban management problems could be reported on time.

5. Insist on precise service and seek breakthroughs in improving the quality of people’s livelihood. More attention need to be put on the feelings of the masses and resolving their specific concerns regarding travel, parking and public activity places etc, 21 bottleneck roads were widened, 10 parking lots were built and 10 old residential districts were transformed, 7213 parking spaces were opened, 20 public toilets have been built or renovated, 5 markets have been upgraded, 10 “community canteens” were put into operation, and 227 school sports facilities opened to the public for free, which are warmly welcomed by the masses. At the beginning of this year, 20 projects, such as pocket parks and overpasses to promote people’s livelihood, were confirmed and all of them would be completed this year, which will let people enjoy the benefits and changes brought by the construction of fine cities.

6. Insist on smart growth and seek breakthroughs in promoting sustainable development. Firmly establish the concept of “lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets” to promote the integration of industry and city and green development. On the one hand, promote ecological industrialization. CNY2.55 billion was invested to optimize the ecological restoration projects of the Huaxia Culture and Tourism Group, and the three-year action plan for coastline restoration, mountain restoration, river management and reservoir grass planting was implemented. In the last two years, the proportion of the city’s ecological construction funds to general public budget expenditures has reached 17.3%, air quality has reached the national second-level standard for four consecutive years, and Weihai has been selected as “waste-free city” and “ecological civilized city”, which makes Weihai the only such city in Shandong province. Relying on the excellent ecological environment, rural tourism, coastal tourism and integrated tourism were vigorously developed. The annual growth of tourists is more than 9%, and the revenue increased more than 12% in the past two years. On the other hand, the city is also promoting the evolution of industrial ecology. On the basis of full consideration of the environmental carrying capacity, the plan to build a new generation of information technology, medical equipment and biomedicine, health-care tourism and other CNY700 billion industrial clusters was implemented. More efforts were put on the green, low-carbon and circular economy, and the city’s energy consumption in 2019 dropped 4.17%, exceeding the target of energy consumption reduction in the 13th five year plan ahead of schedule.

Zhang Haibo, Communist Party Secretary of Weihai; Yan Jianbo, Mayor of Weihai; Yang Li, Vice Mayor of Weihai and others

The Third Annual Meeting of the Weihai Mayor’s International Economic Advisory Council took place on May 30. Due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, the event was held online. Weihai is located in Shandong province. Bekaert and Beaulieu, two member companies of the Flanders-China Chamber of Commerce (FCCC), have major investments in Weihai.

A think tank composed of 19 members of the advisory committee offered advice and suggestions for the city’s high-quality development. The advisory committee members are elites in the fields of intelligent manufacturing, medical care and health, marine fishery, trade and investment, urban planning and energy, all of which are vital to Weihai’s development.

Attendees offered their suggestions on Weihai’s high-quality development under current circumstances. In his keynote speech, Antoine Simonnet, Chief Supply Chain Officer for HP and Chairman of the Advisory Council, analyzed the opportunities and challenges faced by Weihai’s economy and society in the light of the new changes and trends in a global economy which has been impacted by the pandemic. He suggested that quality management principles should be incorporated into the city’s innovation and development plan and pilot projects should be carried out in key areas. He added that Weihai should deepen opening up and build an innovation ecosystem. He also stressed that HP attaches great importance to the cooperative relationship with Weihai and will continue to deepen the cooperation to jointly promote the high-quality development of the city.

Zhang Haibo, Party Secretary of Weihai, invited experts to share constructive advice on boosting Weihai’s development, and bringing more resources and projects to the city.

Ms. Gwenn Sonck, Executive Director of the Flanders-China Chamber of Commerce and of the EU-China Business Association, is also a Member of the Advisory Council to the Mayor of Weihai and Honorary Citizen of Weihai. In her speech to the online meeting, she recalled her first contact with Weihai 15 years ago. “A delegation from Weihai’s top government leaders visited the company Bekaert in Belgium, and during a nice luncheon, they introduced their city. The openness and the advantages of their city made me want to learn more. During that first meeting, I was invited to visit Weihai. I was impressed by its natural beauty, the friendliness of the people, and the efficiency of the government. After that, we exchanged delegations with business leaders and officials and made many friends.” Ms. Sonck provided eight recommendations for the future: to strengthen the digital presence of Weihai; to run more webinars, virtual seminars and online trade shows; to organize trainings in video conferencing; and to bring Weihai to the world with virtual tours. She also recommended to bring Weihai to the world with storytelling and interviews; to continue working on existing partnerships; to focus on branding and targeting; and finally to get aligned on strategic priorities.

Yan Jianbo, Acting Mayor of Weihai, said that Weihai will continue to promote high-quality development, deepen supply-side structural reform, activate new growth drivers and implement an innovation-driven strategy. Yan expressed the hope that the Advisory Council will continue to put forward valuable comments and suggestions on the city’s development and promote common development.

“As a coastal city with rich marine resources, Weihai should foster a competitive marine economy,” said Li Naisheng, Professor at the Institute of Oceanology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), who attended the meeting.

Accelerating the development of cloud computing, “new infrastructure”, and the digital economy were among the topics of this year’s meeting.
“The Weihai government can further increase its investment in digital distribution, which will promote industrial upgrading, foster drivers of economic growth and spur job creation,” said Zhou Xing, Managing Partner, North China Markets Leader of PwC China.

Liao Jun, CEO of Specialty Businesses & China, Member of Bekaert Group, delivered a speech on sustainable development during the meeting. He added that the pandemic has sounded an alarm for the world and highlighted the importance of sustainable development.

Weihai is a commercial port, and a major fishing center with a developed light industry and a large Korean business community. Weihai has a very business-friendly investment environment. The pillar industries are machinery, food, transportation equipment, textiles and garments, medicine and medical devices, electronics and new materials. The emerging industries of Weihai are medical & healthcare, information & outsourcing and “intelligent” manufacturing. There are three industrial zones: the Weihai Economic & Technological Development Zone, the Weihai Export Processing Zone and the Weihai Torch Hi-Tech Science Park. Besides regular flights to major cities in China, Weihai also has direct flights to Seoul and Busan in the Republic of Korea. The Qingdao-Rongcheng intercity railway offers high-speed rail services to Beijing, Shanghai and other cities.

Companies which are interested to learn more about Weihai’s favourable investment environment can receive an investment brochure by sending a request to: info@flanders-china.be

The FYDH International Yacht Club is hoping to attract yacht builders and investors in berths and club buildings, including restaurants, shops, and lounges. A yacht builder in Weihai is also seeking Western designers or design companies for new models. Part-time designers are also welcome. Interested yacht builders and investors may send an email to info@flanders-china.be for further information.

Ⅰ Project Introduction

Weihai is located at the eastern tip of the Shandong Peninsula, as well as in the center of Northeast Asia. It is China’s nearest city to Korea across the sea.

The Club is located in Weihai Rushan Silver Beach tourist resort, which is known as “China’s most beautiful coastline”, “the best beach of the world” and “Oriental Hawaii”.

The sea area of the project is 802,530 square meters, with a total building area of 145,000 square meters. The main constructions include 800 yacht berths – 180 berths for small yachts, 380 berths for medium-sized yachts, and 240 berths for large yachts – 137,000 square meters of membership clubs; 5,000 square meters waiting hall and commercial facilities; 3,000 square meters of training and maintenance base; a wharf of 3,000 tons; and a main breakwater of 1,629 meters, west breakwater of 230 m, and island breakwater of 311 m.

Ⅱ Project Advantages

The Rushan Silver Beach Tourist Resort, where the International Yacht Club is located, has three large beaches, which can accommodate 100,000 tourists. The golden coastline stretching 21.7 kilometers is appealing to tourists and is an ideal place for travel and holidays.

Rushan City, where the project is located, is in the central area of the three major coastal cities of Qingdao, Yantai and Weihai, with convenient sea, land and air transportation. It is the core area of the Blue Economic Zone of the Shandong Peninsula, the key area of cooperation between China, Japan and South Korea, the gathering area of emerging industries and the pilot zone of the innovative economy.

The market environment of the project is good, and competition from the same industry, substitutes or potential competitors is not very strong, so there are greater market development opportunities.

Fast growing China already has a considerable number of potential consumers. There are more than 400 yachts in the Weihai area alone with no place to dock. The project site has a vast sea area with industrial foundation of ship manufacturing and maintenance, and is very suitable for the development of the yacht economy.

The local government attaches great importance to the project and has formulated a series of preferential policies, which will provide strong support for the project.

Ⅲ Investment Estimate

The total investment of the project is estimated to be €83 million.

Foreign trade and foreign capital are important engines of China’s economic development. The novel coronavirus epidemic has brought a huge impact on China’s foreign trade and investment, and threatened China’s pivotal position in the global supply chain. With the effective control of the epidemic in China, enterprises are speeding up the resumption of operations, and foreign trade is expected to recover soon. However, the rapid spread overseas has constituted a global epidemic and it will further drag down the global economy and bring a second blow to China’s foreign trade. For this reason, governments at all levels in China are making all efforts to promote the resumption of operations of foreign trade and foreign-funded enterprises, accelerate the landing of foreign investment, continuously optimize the business environment, and further expand opening up to the outside world, so as to stabilize the basic market of foreign trade and investment.

On April 15, 2020, Shandong Province issued a list of 32 measures to promote the steady development of foreign trade and foreign-invested enterprises. These measures mainly include phased-in reduction or exemption of social insurance, postponed payments of principal and interest of loans, and appropriate reduction of the price of electricity and gas. Enterprises affected by the epidemic can apply for deferment of housing provident fund and social insurance payments.

Weihai actively responded to the impact of the epidemic and took related measures in terms of capital subsidies, market development, credit insurance, financing, and legal services to promote the steady growth of foreign trade. With the support of a series of “hard core” policies, Weihai’s foreign trade and foreign-funded enterprises have steadily promoted production and operations, expanded the market share, and ensured that development is on the fast track.

The Weihai factory is the first to resume operations in Bekaert China. In the production workshop, workers with masks are busy, automatic intelligent steel cord production equipment is running, and products advance orderly down the production line. From February to June this year, the company will receive a 5% discount on electricity charges. From February to April, only half of the contributions to endowment insurance, unemployment insurance and employment injury insurance need to be paid. From February to December, the company only needs to partially pay medical insurance costs. With these heavyweight policies Bekaert (Shandong) has more confidence in its future development.