The century old business district of Zhongshan Road – established in 1897 in the Shinan district of Qingdao, in East China's Shandong province – is these days also widely known as a vibrant and hip financial and cultural hub in the city.

In the 1920s and 1930s, the Zhongshan Road area had already developed into a famous foreign business street.  

The business block has evolved extensively over the past century and Shinan has become one of the urban areas with the most concentrated and diverse financial institutions in Shandong province.

As such, the district is home to 137 financial institutions of various types, accounting for nearly 50 percent of the total number based in the city. Among these are 29 banking institutions above the branch level, with 35 insurance institutions, as well as 43 securities institutions and 23 futures institutions.

In 2020, the added value of the finance sector in Shinan accounted for 22.9 percent of its total GDP, making it the leading sector of the district. Moreover, its added value is projected to account for 33 percent of the added value of the finance industry in Qingdao – and it has proved to be the mainstay of the sector in Qingdao.

In the first half of this year, the added value of the financial industry in Shinan reached 14.98 billion yuan, accounting for 22.4 percent of the city's GDP. 

"The financial target of Shinan in the future should be globalized and internationalized," said Yan Shi, deputy head of Shinan district. 

"The 30.01 square kilometers of Shinan district should be used as the agglomeration and radiation area of the financial industry, as well as the innovation demonstration area for the new financial industry," Yan added.