Qingdao, a coastal city in east China's Shandong Province, absorbed 266 million US dollars in contractual investment from European countries in the first three quarters, up by 2.5 times year on year, the latest statistics have shown.

Of the total amount of contractual investment from Europe, 65.66 million US dollars have been used in local projects, according to the city foreign trade and economic bureau.

The city approved 68 projects with financing from European countries in the first three quarters, up 58.14 percent over that in last year's same period.

Bureau figures show that Britain, France, Germany, Denmark, Italy and Switzerland are the major European investors in the city.

Qingdao approved 22 Germany-funded projects in the three-quarter period, involving a total contractual value of 57.33 million US dollars, a year on year rise of 470 percent.

Ten Italy-funded projects were built in the same period, with a contractual investment of 19.09 million US dollars.

Located at the southern tip of the Shandong Peninsula, Qingdao is an important trading port of China and a hub of ocean shipping on the western bank of the Pacific Ocean. The port handled 163 million tons of cargo last year, ranking the fifth among sea ports in China.

Currently, 49 of the world top 500 multinational corporations have invested in Qingdao.

Source: Xinhua