Qingdao plans to tackle weak areas in its business environment to further improve its overall competitiveness and hopes to become a hub for investment and entrepreneurship on par with Shenzhen, said Wang Qingxian, Party secretary of Qingdao, during a recent industrial unicorn innovation seminar.

The Qingdao government places heavy importance on improving the city's business environment. Wang said that Qingdao has been addressing the top concerns of businesses in order to cultivate a world-class business environment.

"The reform of government functions is crucial for energizing market entities and grassroots initiatives and for improving the city's overall business environment," Wang said at the seminar, adding that the city will introduce more measures and preferential policies to support investment and entrepreneurship in the city.

Wang said that Qingdao will build a closed-loop ecosystem in which capital, industry, technology, and talent are integrated.

He also said that thanks to recent efforts, the investment environment in Qingdao has improved a lot and investment increased by 21.3 percent from January to November 2019.