The 2020 Shandong Port International Petroleum Trade Conference  [Photo provided to en.sd-port.com]

The 2020 Shandong Port International Petroleum Trade Conference started in Qingdao on July 28, in a bid to promote the transformation and upgrading of the petroleum and chemical industries, and high-quality development in Shandong.

The conference was organized by Qingdao municipal government and Shandong Port Group (SPG).

Themed on "new platform, new opportunities, new pattern", the conference includes one main forum and four sub-forums. During the event, Shandong Port's whole-chain trade and financial service platform for petroleum products was launched; 12 deals were signed; and the Shandong Port commercial crude oil inventory index and the Shandong Port boned low sulphur bunker oil valuation ratings were released.

Taking advantage of this event, SPG is expected to cooperate with traders, financial institutions and port-related institutions to develop four types of centers: a bonded oil futures and spots center, an oil and finance trade center, the largest center for bunker oil supplies in northern China, and a distribution center for oil and gas. All these efforts are designed to build a higher starting point for SPG's trade development, especially in oil trade.

Liu Zhongguo, SPG's deputy Party secretary and board director, said that with the help of this conference, SPG will join hands with customers and partners to further increase petroleum trade volume and put cooperation projects into place, as part of efforts to create more valuable industrial chains and supply chains for upstream and downstream enterprises.

Liu said more efforts should be made in the near future to speed up the construction of internationally advanced smart and green ports, logistics hubs, city-industry integration ports, finance and trade ports, and cruise ports for culture and tourism. He said the group will continue to expand the two-way opening-up on the land and sea, and build several international logistics channels to boost domestic demand, stabilize foreign trade and guarantee economic growth.