QINGDAO -- A financial service center opened Thursday in the demonstration area for local economic and trade cooperation between China and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO).

So far, a total of nine organizations, including China Development Bank, the Export-Import Bank of China and China Export & Credit Insurance Corporation, have moved into the center.

Bi Weizhun, acting mayor of Jiaozhou, a county-level city administered by Qingdao in East China's Shandong province, said the center aims to provide professional financial services for bilateral and multilateral economic and trade cooperation among SCO member countries.

In June, the Chinese government said it supports building a demonstration area in Qingdao for China-SCO local economic and trade cooperation. Located in Jiaozhou, the core area covers an area of 61.1 square kilometers.

The construction of the first batch of 26 projects with a total investment of 43.7 billion yuan (around $6.4 billion) started in September.