Jiaozhou Bay Bridge, one of the world's longest cross-sea bridges, and the tunnel underneath play significant roles in facilitating the development of the peninsula's east and west coasts.

Qingdao is planning a region that will act as a springboard for trilateral economic cooperation, paving the way for formal negotiations on a free trade agreement among China, Japan and South Korea, which the three countries agreed to launch by the end of the year.

This move follows Premier Wen Jiabao's proposal for a regional economic cooperation demonstration area among the three countries, which he detailed in his address to the Fourth China-Japan-ROK Business Summit Meeting on May 13 in Beijing.

Having already been selected in April to be the host city for the China-Japan-ROK Free Trade Area (FTA) negotiation conference, Qingdao will take a lead by deepening cooperative relationships with some of the largest cities of the two countries, such as Busan and Kobe, in the planned region, said Qingdao Deputy Mayor Liu Mingjun.

"Qingdao has successfully applied to the Ministry of Commerce and the provincial government of Shandong to build an international economic cooperative area within the West Coast New Economic Zone, which includes a 10 sq km Sino-Japan park and a 10 sq km Sino-ROK innovative cooperative park, to enhance and deepen trilateral industrial cooperation, " Liu said.

"As a preliminary measure of the demonstration area, the region is designed to deepen cooperation among the three countries," Liu said.

One highlight will be cooperation on standards for the electronics and information industries.

"Local electronics manufacturers Haier and Hisense can work together with industry giants, such as Japan's Sony and South Korea's Samsung, to promote mutual recognition of industry standards," Liu said.

Other priorities for trilateral cooperation include safety standards for agricultural products, international shipping and port logistics, software and animation, intellectual property protection, tourism and oceanic engineering.

Qingdao has long enjoyed sound economic relations with the two countries.

South Korea and Japan rank first and third, respectively, among the city's sources of foreign capital, Liu said.

Official statistics show it has utilized $13.24 billion from South Korea and $3.4 billion from Japan, accounting for nearly half of the two countries' total investments in the province.

As of this year, city authorities have granted approval to nearly 11,000 South Korean-funded projects and almost 1,900 from Japan.

Japan and South Korea are Qingdao's second and third largest trade partners, with combined trade volume over the past five years reaching more than $76 billion.

"So it is necessary to simplify customs procedures at Qingdao to facilitate trilateral trade among the three countries," Liu said.

The city's proximity to the two countries has made it a preferred destination for both tourism and living.

It has received 700,000 South Korean visitors and 1 million Japanese over the past three years. Nearly 100,000 people from these two countries live in Qingdao.

"As a result, Qingdao is the optimal city for the three countries to conduct cooperation in finance, tourism, logistics and modern service industries," Liu said.

In addition, Qingdao houses more than 10 universities, including the China University of Petroleum (East China) and the Ocean University of China, which enable the city to cooperate with South Korea and Japan on personnel training and exchanges.

The city is also expected to boost ocean-based economic sectors, such as shipbuilding and aquatic equipment manufacturing, by introducing advanced technology from these two countries, Liu said.

lifusheng@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 06/13/2012 page24)