If you ask for a bottle of beer in a restaurant on the mainland, chances are that you'll get a Tsingtao. The beer has been a highlight during the past century for the former German colonial town of Tsingtao, or Qingdao as it is known today.
Home to several other well-known brands such as home appliance maker Haier, Qingdao has had growth of more than 10 per cent every year for the past decade.
Now on top of these traditional competitive industries, the coastal city in Shandong is boosting its marine economy as the central government attaches more importance to exploring and utilising ocean resources.
Encouraged by President Hu Jintao in his inspection tour two years ago, the city aspires to become the core of a 'blue economic zone' on the peninsula, expecting the marine industry to contribute 15 per cent of the city's economy by 2015.
Ambitious goals include becoming a shipping hub in the northeast Asian region and a centre for regional marine industry development by 2020.
The marine industry accounts for about 10 per cent of the city's economy, said Ren Zhengang, deputy director of the municipal government's Development and Reform Commission. 'Our target is to improve this ratio by 1 percentage point each year, so it will reach 15 per cent by 2015,' he said.
