Zibo banking on financial industry for its future

Zibo city, once a chemical industrial hub in East China's Shandong province, has issued a series of policies to woo financial organizations from home and abroad, in a bid to build a regional hub for the financial industry amid the province's efforts to replace old growth drivers with new ones.

Zibo has initiated a three-year campaign to guide enterprises to increase economic benefits by upgrading production technologies, expanding product profiles, enhancing product quality and completing industrial chains, Jiang Duntao, Zibo's Party secretary, said while he was making a speech at the opening ceremony of a financial industry summit held in the city on Thursday.

The transformation of the city's traditional industries offers good opportunities for financial organizations to invest, he said.

To date, a total of 159 financial organizations including banks, insurance, securities and futures companies have set up facilities in the city, according to the city government.

With the new policies in place, the financial industry is expected to contribute 7 percent of the city's gross domestic product in 2025.

On Thursday, the city launched a fund for investment in emerging industries with a target size of 10 billion yuan ($1.57 billion).