The Yantai Economic and Technological Development Zone was approved by the State Council in October 1984, and construction began in March 1985. The zone was one of the first 14 national development zones. Its jurisdiction area increased to 228 square kilometers in September 2002, and 71.7 square kilometers have been developed. It is home to 400,000 people, including 187,000 registered residents.

The zone sits on the coast of the Yellow Sea in the Shandong Peninsula, faces Beijing in the north and Dalian across the sea, connects to Shanghai and Qingdao in the south, and is adjacent to the ROK and Japan in the east. It's an important front for the marine economy of the Shandong Peninsula.

Position

The zone has developed clear and reasonable economic structure, high-end industries, and a distinctive and vigorous urban character, with coordinated social development. It will evolve into a new coastal city that is innovative, modern, beautiful and civilized, as well as an important facility to help realize the national development strategy. The zone will be a leader in modern industrial system and regional innovation and a model in circular and low carbon economies and service outsourcing. It will offer important support to urban agglomeration and economic belt development. It will be an ideal place for the national ecological industry, living and working. The zone will be at the core of Shandong's marine economy and home to high-end industries.

The Yantai development zone ranked sixth in comprehensive investment environment among development zones nationwide, and seventh in comprehensive economic strength. It passed acceptance check as a national ecological industry demonstration park. It was the first in Shandong that passed the ISO14001 environmental management system and ISO9001 quality management system certifications. The zone was named a model in China's industrial park environmental management by the United Nations Environment Programme and became one of the first circular economy parks in China.

Economic development

Economic and social development has gone into full swing after 30 years since the Yantai development zone was founded. The zone's main economic indicators have ranked sixth among national development zones for six consecutive years in the comprehensive development evaluation by the Ministry of Commerce. It has used 1.67 percent of the city area to create nearly 20 percent of local GDP, industrial business revenue and tax; 25 percent of local industrial added value; 40 percent of high and new tech industrial output value; and 60 percent of import and export volumes, becoming an important force in regional economic development.

Opening-up

A group of industrial leaders, including Foxconn and Shanghai General Motor, settled in the zone one after another since the first Fortune 500 company Loctite arrived in June 1987. The zone developed two leading industries and four facilities at the beginning of 2003. It successfully coped with sustainable development pressure in the new era and profound changes in international industries. It focused on Fortune 500, large-scale State-owned and listed companies to draw in big investment and high-end projects. To date, more than 40 countries and regions worldwide and 76 Fortune 500 companies have invested in the zone. The top eight investors are Hong Kong, South Korea, the United States, Japan, the UK, Taiwan, Germany and Singapore. Contracts worth $8.83 billion have been completed, and domestic investment projects have 47.47 billion yuan in registered capital. Export value of the zone accounted for two-thirds of the whole city in 2013 and one-sixth of all across Shandong. The zone has evolved into one of the top three national zones.