BEIJING, July 17 -- The booming coastal city of Qingdao in east China's Shandong Province Thursday rolled out 71 investment projects in Hong Kong at the Qingdao City promotion and signing ceremony, involving high-tech industry, advanced manufacturing, modern services and agriculture.

    At the ceremony, 30 projects with an investment of 7.2 billion U.S. dollars were signed, 80 percent of which are for modern services. 8.8-billion-dollar investments in 6 projects are scheduled to be sealed on Friday.

    Hong Kong is Qingdao's second largest source of foreign investment with a total of 3265 investment programs worth 12.33 billion dollars as of the end of June, 2009. Meanwhile, Hong Kong is Qingdao's eighth largest trade parterner and 5th export market.

    Yan Qijun, Party chief of Qingdao, said Hong Kong plays a pivot role in Qingdao's opening-up pattern. Despite the global financial crisis, Hong Kong's investment in Qingdao keeps growing.

    Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Hong Kong.

(Source: XHTV)