Qingdao's enterprises conducted 1,461 technological and innovative programs in 2011, about 50 percent of which are taking the lead of the domestic industry.

The total investment for innovation projects reached 7.14 billion yuan ($1.13 billion), and the estimated increased sale for the year was 125.1 billion ($19.8 billion). This information is in accordance with authoritative resources from the Economy and Informationization Committee of Qingdao.

Great breakthroughs have been achieved in emerging industries including information technology, high-end devices manufacture and new materials industry. Seven other highlighted industries such as the electrical appliances and petrochemical industry have also made great progresses.

Qingdao's programs for ironic phosphate and lithium powered batteries, modularization technology and automatic multifunctional carton binding machines have filled domestic gaps and broken the overseas monopolization in related areas.

By Huang Yaning (chinadaily.com.cn)

Edited by Chen Zhilin and Rakhee