Party Secretary of the Qingdao government, Shandong province, Li Qun, met with Gong Qinggai, the deputy director of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council, at the city's Fuxin Hotel, on Feb 4, according to the Chinese-language Qingdao Daily.

Li expressed his thanks to the Taiwan Affairs Office for its support in social and economic development in recent years, and said that the city government would give priority to increasing economic returns in a bid to forge a city with international standards.

Gong highly praised Qingdao's economic achievement in recent years and went on saying that the Taiwan Affairs Office would continue to serve as a bridge for cross-Straits trade, and attract more Taiwan-based enterprises to invest in Qingdao to help the city's economic development.