The eastern coastal city of Qingdao, Shandong province signed 10 projects with China's central State-owned enterprises (SOEs) on June 29 via online channels.

With a combined investment of 42.7 billion yuan ($6.05 billion), these projects involve various fields, such as industrial internet, high-end biomedicine as well as infrastructure construction and a financial business headquarters in the China-Shanghai Cooperation Organization Demonstration Zone for Local Economic and Trade Cooperation in Qingdao.

A SOE business club was also unveiled. The club will serve as a platform to facilitate collaboration between the central SOEs and the China-SCO demonstration zone under the Belt and Road Initiative.

Qingdao sets up a SOE business club to boost cooperation between the central SOEs and the China-SCO demonstration zone. [Photo/qingdaonews.com]

The business club is expected to contribute to the demonstration zone's goals to create a better platform for international cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative and foster collaborations in logistics, trade, investment, tourism and culture, and marine economy, local authorities said.

During the launch ceremony, Sherali Saidamir Jonon, deputy secretary-general of the SCO, and Kanavskiy Sergey, executive secretary of the SCO Business Council, sent their well wishes and expressed their willingness to deepen exchanges and cooperation with Qingdao in all fields and forge new breakthroughs in the China-SCO demonstration zone.

The China-SCO demonstration zone is designed to serve the nation and Qingdao's strategies to expand opening-up and international cooperation. [Photo provided to China Daily]

The overall plan for the construction of the China-SCO demonstration zone was passed during the ninth meeting of the central committee for deepening overall reform on July 24, 2019.

The Ministry of Commerce listed four major tasks in the building of the demonstration zone: forging a regional logistics center, building a modern trade center, promoting production capacity cooperation and constructing a center for two-way investment, and building a business, tourism and cultural exchange center.