The first session of the Consulting Committee Conference for Qingdao Multinationals Summit in 2021 was held in Jinan, capital of Shandong province on Jan 26.

Top officials in Shandong and 13 advisory committee members from around the world took part in the session, which was held online and offline.

Ling Wen, vice-governor of Shandong province, said that the second Qingdao Multinationals Summit is scheduled to be held on Oct 16 and 17 and will be themed "Multinationals and China".

According to Ling, the summit aims to build a high-end platform to facilitate mutually beneficial cooperation with multinationals, and showcase China's determination and efforts to develop an open economy.

The summit will consist of closed-door meetings, parallel panels, parallel road shows, guest country activities, supporting exhibitions and other activities to facilitate greater levels of cooperation and mutual understanding.

The first session of the Consulting Committee Conference for Qingdao Multinationals Summit in 2021 is held in Jinan, capital of Shandong province on Jan 26. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The Consulting Committee for Qingdao Multinationals Summit gathers members from top global think tanks and commerce chambers, as well as prestigious scholars and entrepreneurs such as Jens Eskelund, vice-president of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China, Alain Crozier, vice president of Microsoft and CEO of Microsoft Greater China, Yamato Kenichi, president of MUFG Bank (China), and Ma Jun, director-general of the Enterprise Research Institute of the Development Research Center of the State Council.

The consulting committee members also discussed the agenda, main issues and the main focus of the summit.