The banking business in Qingdao had already started to build a marine-based financial base long before the city brought up the strategy of “protecting the bay and developing around the bay.” They have provided diversified services and products to add strength to the construction of a blue economy.

Offering credit aid to big projects and exploring credit innovation have always been the focus of all financial institutions in Qingdao. The Qingdao branch of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China in the future will channel its credit funds into marine economy-based blue industries and low-carbon green industries.

As one of the nine marine economic cores of Qingdao, the Dongjiakou high-tech industrial cluster has been receiving credit aid from the Qingdao branch of China Construction Bank. To date, the bank has provided 700-million-yuan line of credit to the cluster.

By the end of November 2010, the Construction Bank had granted corporate loans of 29.7 billion yuan to the city. In particular, 800 million has gone into the construction and renovation of small bays, 370 million to the projects in high-tech zones, 160 million to the metro system, and 520 million to construction of the Bay Bridge.

Apart from the credit support, many banks are planning to give special favors to Qingdao’s marine economic zones. The Bank of Qingdao, in its five-year strategic layout, pointed out that it would strive to transform itself into China’s first marine economy bank. It will also give support to marine-based industries, including marine fisheries, marine salt industry, marine chemical industry, coastal tourism, and deep-sea resources development, marine biomedical, seawater comprehensive utilization, marine energy utilization and marine engineering technology.