The unveiling ceremony for the Northern China International Oil and Gas Center is held on June 7 in Qingdao. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

The unveiling ceremony for the Northern China International Oil and Gas Center was held on June 7 in the Shibei district of Qingdao in East China's Shandong province – a facility expected to boost the development of the hydrocarbon industry supply chain in the region.

The event was sponsored by the Qingdao municipal government and Shandong Port Group, or SPG, one of the biggest port operators in the world, based in Qingdao.

It was organized by the Qingdao Development and Reform Commission, the Service Authority of Qingdao International Cruise Port Zone and the Shibei district government.

The move jointly made by SPG and Qingdao is regarded as a step forward in implementing the plans of both Shandong and the city during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-25), as well as long-term goals to 2035.

In addition, greater efforts are planned to speed up the construction of world-class sea ports – as well as to promote the high-quality economic growth of Qingdao, Shandong and the North China regions.

The Northern China International Oil and Gas Center is seen as a significant project underpinning Shandong's replacement of old growth drivers with new ones, amid the 14th Five-Year Plan period. It is also seen as the first implementation of Shandong Commodity Trading's development paradigm.

Company Chairman Huo Gaoyuan said that SPG was moving to tap into the advantages brought about by the new RCEP Qingdao Innovation Pilot Zone for Economic and Trade Cooperation, give full play to its role as a transshipment hub – and make all-out efforts to develop an entire supply chain ecosystem for commodities that integrates modern economic and trade factors.

Huo added that SPG would step up efforts to build internationally advanced finance and trade ports, as well as help Qingdao build the International Shipping Trade Innovation Center – to help create new economic growth drivers and facilitate the high-quality development of Shandong.

He said that RCEP – the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership, the world's biggest single trading bloc created by Asia-Pacific nations, signed in November 2020 – would bring fresh opportunities for both Qingdao and SPG, facilitating industrial clusters, upgrades and transformation.

With its subsidiary – Shandong Board of Trade – as the main body, SPG's move to jointly build the Northern China International Oil and Gas Center with Qingdao's Shibei district has been viewed in the context of its wider efforts to promote port-industry-city integrated development. 

The Northern China International Oil and Gas Center is expected to become an engine driving the openness and development of both Qingdao and SPG, writing a new chapter for the RCEP Qingdao Innovation Pilot Zone for Economic and Trade Cooperation.