The 10th European Union-China Business & Technology Cooperation Fair will be held in Qingdao from Nov 4-6. Some 500 representatives, including EU leaders and renowned entrepreneurs, will attend.

2015 marks the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the EU and China. It is an important milestone for an ever closer relationship between the 28 EU member states and China.

The fair will be an essential event to celebrate and usher in new prospects for relations with the EU.

The fair will take place in two cities of North and West China, Qingdao and Chengdu, both vitally strategic in the context of the importance of the land and marine Silk Roads linking China and Europe.

The EU-China Business & Technology Cooperation Fair has grown into one of the largest platforms for investment, trade and technological cooperation between the EU and China since 2002, when it was first held in China.

Around 2,400 European and 4,400 Chinese companies have attended and signed 1,465 letters of intent for cooperation since 2002.

The event is a significant opportunity for Qingdao to explore more areas for cooperation with Europe.

Therefore, the organizing committee will arrange local research institutes and companies, from the shipbuilding, manufacturing, mechanical engineering, logistics, new materials, environmental protection, biotechnology, medicine, information technology and tourism industries for the one-to-one negotiation meetings at the fair.

Please contact the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade, Qingdao sub-council: +86 532 83888710

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Qingdao, a major port city in eastern Shandong province, is one of China's first coastal open cities.

It has established sister-city relations or friendly cooperative relations with 63 cities in foreign countries. More than 2,000 overseas companies have set up permanent offices in Qingdao, and 111 companies on the Fortune Global 500 List have invested in 219 projects there.

Qingdao is a regional economic center, an important international trading port as well as a marine transport hub. It is one of China's top five ports for foreign trade.

In 2014, Qingdao's GDP reached 869.21 billion yuan ($137.04 billion), up by 8 percent over 2013; the public budget revenue was 89.52 billion yuan, up by 13.5 percent; retail sales of social consumer goods were 326.88 billion yuan, up by 12.6 percent; the total import and export trade value was 79.9 billion US dollars, up by 2.5 percent; the actually received foreign capital reached 6.08 billion US dollars, up by 10.2 percent.

The Port of Qingdao has built trade relationship with more than 700 ports worldwide. It handled 450 million tons of cargo in 2014, ranking third in China and seventh worldwide.

Qingdao is a famous marine science city and a leading city in China's Blue Economy.

The city is home to 30 percent of Chinese marine research institutions, 40 percent of China’s senior marine research experts, and 50 percent of national key marine research projects.

In 2014, total marine production reached 175.1 billion yuan, accounting for 20.2% of the total GDP.

By the end of this year, Qingdao will have been established as a pilot zone of the Blue Economy, and have in place clusters of independent marine research and development companies and hi-tech industries. It will also provide a demonstration area for protection of the marine ecological environment.