Cities in Shandong province, including Weihai, Dongying and Binzhou, have long been considered rich in culture and maritime resources, and they are looking to expand in these areas and more by collaborating with businesses worldwide.

On Tuesday, 16 branch venues of the second Conference of Great Business Partners and International Summit on Innovation and Development for Youth Entrepreneurs will be held across Shandong province.

In Weihai, which sits on the shoreline of northeastern Shandong, a virtual meeting platform will be in place that day. It will connect the venue, nine negotiating rooms and hundreds of guests across the world.

"Echoing the theme 'Seizing New Opportunities and Sharing New Development', Weihai aims to hold many cloud-based activities. From communication, promotion, release and signing to negotiation, all can be done on the cloud," said a local official.

More than 160 guests from 12 countries and regions including Japan, Germany and Canada will attend the event. Among them, there will be a handful of big names: Chinese dairy giant New Hope Group Chairman Liu Yonghao, major Chinese corn oil producer Xiwang Group President Wang Di, and Chinese-leading property developer Greenland Chairman Zhang Yuliang.

"We have also invited executives of Fortune Global 500 companies, leaders of the top 500 Chinese companies, corporate representatives, business association presidents, young entrepreneurs and social celebrities.

"They are from more than 20 industries, such as medical equipment, information technology, healthcare and tourism, high-end equipment and cultural exchanges. They have a strong willingness to invest in Shandong," a local official said.

Moreover, Weihai plans to introduce more than 50 key projects covering major infrastructure, new infrastructure, key industries and industrial technological transformation to attendees via online and offline platforms.

Dongying, nestled in Shandong's northern region, will host a forum on Tuesday where about 20 industry insiders will give online speeches about hot topics like the internet celebrity economy and Internet Plus.

Also on that day, local officials will go online, tailor plans for each project, and discover and address pain points for enterprises.

An official in Binzhou, another city in northern Shandong, said: "This event will have a deep influence on the growth of Binzhou.

"There are four projects to be signed at the event. They are: a beer-themed town in Bincheng district with a total investment of 2 billion yuan ($280 million), a chemical industry park with an investment of 1.55 billion yuan, a biomedical industrial park with an investment of 1 billion yuan, and an industrial base in Boxing county with an investment of 1 billion yuan."

yinruowei@chinadaily.com.cn