Shandong to host Confucian Merchants Conference

The first Shandong Confucian Merchants Conference will be held in Jinan from Sept 28 to 30, 2018, according to an announcement by the information office of the Shandong government on Aug 14.

Around 1,000 entrepreneurs from home and abroad from fields such as science and technology, education, the health industry and the financial industry will attend the conference, which will be organized by the Shandong Provincial Party Committee and the Shandong government.

Keynote speeches will be given by provincial leading figures such as Liu Jiayi, secretary of the Party committee of Shandong province. Attendees are also being invited to deliver speeches during the conference.

There will be 11 parallel forums focusing on the "top ten" industries of new and old kinetic energy conversion, and it is hoped that a number of major projects will be signed at the conference. 

At the same time, it will hold the Shandong Economic and Social Development Achievement Exhibition and the New and Old Kinetic Energy Conversion Major Engineering Planning Exhibition.

When taking a break from the various activities taking place, guests will be able to experience authentic Shandong culture on the conference's sidelines, such as by trying out local delicacies and having a go at traditional local crafts such as Jinan Shadow, Yantai paper-cut, kite making, and Taishan jade.

Officials also hope the conference will promote Shandong to high-caliber professionals to come and work there. As part of the measures to facilitate this, the local government is working on a promotional video which will be shown at the conference, which will introduce the details of a series of measures to attract and retain personnel.

An information pack will also be given out at the conference, which will detail key policies introduced by the local government in terms of personnel training, incentive plans and services since 2016, in order to allow guests to have a more comprehensive understanding of Shandong and attract them to the province to work and set up businesses there.

Officials in Jinan also see the event as a key opportunity for the city's development. Li Zijun, deputy mayor of the city, said that Jinan will use the conference as an opportunity to speed up the "Ten Actions" of urban upgrading projects, comprehensively promote the construction of a preferential business environment and evaluate and consolidate the achievements that have already been made in developing the city.