Shinan district, a political, economic and cultural center in Qingdao, Shandong province, is keen on developing its shipping logistics industry and building a high-end shipping logistics service platform by taking advantage of its developed headquarters economy, good business environment, and congregated shipping-related administrative resources.

The shipping logistics industry is a compound service industry integrating shipping, transport, warehousing, loading and unloading, freight forwarding, ship agencies, customs declaration, information and finance industries. It is also considered as a fundamental and strategic industry that supports the development of the national economy.

Shinan enjoys a favorable location for developing a shipping logistics industry, as it adjoins Qingdao Port in the north and the Bonded Port in the west, is near the Yellow Sea and Dongjiakou Port Area, and is located in the center of the city's port and shipping area.

Also, the district is home to many shipping administrative departments such as Qingdao Customs, the Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine Bureau of Shandong Province, Shandong Provincial Bureau of Maritime Affairs and Shandong Bureau of Ship Inspection, and important shipping organizations such as Qingdao Shipowners' Association and China Classification Society, as well as 90 percent of Qingdao's shipping companies.

Shinan's shipping logistics companies are also combining their advantages and characteristics to build up their brands and to seek high-quality development.

COSCO Shipping Lines and Sinotrans were granted permission to try out a national A-rated logistics company credit system. Sinotrans Shanghai Brand was upgraded as the Central China headquarters, and won the title of Honest Shandong Company of Shinan District in 2018.

Statistics showed that the district's transport, warehousing and post industry achieved total added value of 9.47 billion yuan ($1.38 billion) in 2018, up by 3.2 percent year-on-year and accounting for 7.9 percent of the district's GDP and 8.7 percent of total added value of the tertiary industry. The main revenue of 101 shipping logistics companies above designated size exceeds 20 billion yuan.

This year, Shinan strengthened political support to promote high-quality development of its marine economy, mainly focusing on the construction of marine industry projects, introduction of high-quality enterprises, improvement of innovation capacity, and development of key enterprises.

Financial support of no more than 50 percent of the actual investments will be given to those listed as key projects based on their investment size, anticipated benefits, development potential, and contributions to the district. The support fund, with the maximum amount being 2 million yuan, will be granted in three years at rates of 50 percent, 30 percent, and 20 percent respectively.

Shipping logistics companies that invest in building public warehousing facilities overseas and are recognized as provincial-level companies can gain financial support of 5 percent of their actual investments, 500,000 yuan at most, based on their contributions to the district. The fund will also be granted in three years at a rate of 50 percent, 30 percent, and 20 percent respectively.

Shipping logistics companies recognized as national 3A-rated, 4A-rated and 5A-rated companies for the first time can enjoy subsidies of a maximum of 200,000 yuan, 400,000 yuan, and 1 million yuan respectively.

Shipping logistics companies ranked among Top 50 Logistics Companies of China, Top 100 Logistics Companies of China and Top 100 Freight Forwarding Logistics Companies of China can gain subsidies of 100,000 yuan at most.

Later, Shinan will take advantage of its aggregation of shipping-related administrative departments and well-known shipping logistics companies to improve its shipping logistics industrial chain.

It will bolster functional industries of shipping agency, trading, finance, inspection and evaluation and ship management, and supporting industries of ship brokerage and maritime affairs, shipping big data, information consulting, maritime affairs education, and shipping conventions and exhibitions.

Meanwhile, it will apply new technologies and new models in the shipping logistics industry, and integrate resources of ports, goods, logistics and finance, to build a high-end shipping logistics service platform.

It will target new businesses in the industry, Fortune 500 companies, unicorn enterprises and industry giants, and will attract the arrival of well-known Chinese and foreign shipping service companies.