Since the beginning of this year, investment and trade between Qingdao and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has grown significantly, and ASEAN has become the largest trading partner of Qingdao, local official said.

By June 2020, ASEAN companies had invested in 189 projects in Qingdao.

Despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, ASEAN's investment in Qingdao had also increased in the first half of this year.

The urban landscape of Qingdao, Shandong province [Photo/VCG]

During this period, ASEAN companies set up 16 new enterprises in Qingdao, with actual use of foreign capital amounting to $66.33 million, an increase of 52.06 percent year-on-year.

In recent years, the scale of trade cooperation between the two sides has continued to grow.

Official data showed that in 2019, the total import and export volume between Qingdao and the 10 ASEAN countries reached 73.91 billion yuan ($10.89 billion), up 32.4 percent year-on-year.

In the first half of this year, the imports and exports between the two sides reached 38.89 billion yuan, up 23.1 percent year-on-year.

ASEAN is also an important destination for Qingdao's overseas investment. By June 2020, Qingdao had approved a total of 283 projects in ASEAN countries, with Chinese investment totaling $6.41 billion.

Last year, the contract value of Qingdao's projects in ASEAN countries reached $858 million, accounting for 32.22 percent of the city's total outbound investment.