The perception of Qingdao among multinational corporations has undergone a significant transformation.

Their focus has shifted from mere production lines to R&D centers, and from manufacturing bases to regional headquarters.

The role of Qingdao in the eyes of global multinationals is being redefined.

On March 4, Qingdao Mayor Ren Gang held a meeting with a delegation that included AstraZeneca's Global Executive Vice President and Head of Production Operations & Information, Pan Bin, as well as AstraZeneca's Global Executive Vice President and Head of International Business, Yin Sirui. During the meeting, they expressed hope for tangible progress in project alignment, particularly in the R&D and production of innovative drugs.

Earlier, on January 29, AstraZeneca announced its plan to invest over RMB 100 billion in China by 2030, explicitly stating its intention to upgrade its Qingdao production base.

Since its establishment in Qingdao in 2023, AstraZeneca has consistently increased its investments for three consecutive years, with the total investment doubling from USD 450 million to USD 886 million.

More significantly, AstraZeneca's presence in Qingdao extends beyond manufacturing. In 2023, the Qingdao AstraZeneca Rare Diseases International Innovation Research Center was inaugurated, aiming to establish a regional innovation ecosystem for rare disease diagnosis and treatment, and to help Qingdao become a nationally leading center for rare disease diagnosis and treatment, as well as a medical hub.

This is a testament to the growing investment by multinationals in Qingdao.

Industrial measurement giant Hexagon has not only situated its Greater China headquarters in Qingdao but has also established the Hexagon Smart Manufacturing Research Institute, which integrates cutting-edge technologies from China, Germany, Italy, Switzerland, and other countries. It is also planning to upgrade its Qingdao headquarters into an Asian product manufacturing center.

Earlier this year, global vacuum pump leader Edwards established its Dry Vacuum Pump China R&D Center project in Qingdao High-Tech Zone. The R&D center will focus on key technological breakthroughs in vacuum pumps for the semiconductor and general industries, with plans to invest approximately RMB 80 million in R&D funds over three years to construct high-standard laboratories, introduce high-end simulation software, and establish specialized testing platforms.

German chemical giant Lanxess has been collaborating with Qingdao University of Science and Technology since 2008, establishing its largest overseas high-performance rubber R&D center.

Wave after wave of multinationals are transforming Qingdao from a production hub into an innovation hub.

In fact, this transformation is occurring nationwide.

In Shanghai, Schneider Electric's Critical Power Innovation Lab, Porsche's R&D base, Louis Dreyfus's global R&D center, and Henkel's second-largest global innovation center have all set up shop in the city. As of October last year, Shanghai's foreign-funded R&D centers had exceeded 600.

In Suzhou, Bosch has invested billions to build a core R&D base for intelligent driving.

In Hefei, Volkswagen has constructed its largest and most comprehensive R&D center outside Germany.

In Xi'an, the global fourth R&D center of Adisseo, a top 100 global chemical company, has commenced operations...

Data reveals that from 2013 to 2023, the full-time equivalent of R&D personnel in China's foreign-funded industrial enterprises above a certain scale increased by 33.2%, R&D investment grew by 86.4%, and the number of valid invention patents surged by 336%.

The old model of "producing only in China" has been completely dismantled.

Investment cooperation between multinationals and China has evolved from being "market-oriented" and "cost-oriented" to being "innovation-driven."

Behind this shift is the recognition that multinationals can better serve customers and respond to the demands of the local mega-market by establishing R&D centers in China.

Edwards, a long-time leader in the global semiconductor vacuum pump market, has set up an R&D center in Qingdao, targeting China, the world's largest and most active semiconductor market.

Lanxess, the German special chemicals company that established its largest overseas high-performance rubber R&D center in Qingdao, will officially launch the expansion and upgrade project of its Qingdao production base in November 2025. After the expansion and upgrade, the capacity of the base's two production lines will increase by 50%, with the total capacity rising from 25,000 tons per year to 30,000 tons. This marks Rhein Chemie's largest investment in the global market in five years.

More importantly, in emerging fields such as artificial intelligence, digital living, and green and low-carbon technologies, China has taken the lead.

AstraZeneca's heavy investment in China reflects its recognition of China's leading position in shaping the future of the healthcare industry through artificial intelligence, biotechnology, and renewable energy.

Bosch hopes to leverage China's vast data to train its autonomous driving algorithms, ensuring its technical standards remain aligned with future mainstream trends.

The robotics and rehabilitation industries that Qingdao is vigorously developing have a high degree of alignment with Hexagon. Qingdao High-Tech Zone has explicitly proposed to "support cooperation between Rehabilitation University and Hexagon in rehabilitation robotics research."

The transformation in the investment logic of multinationals has brought unprecedented development opportunities to Qingdao while also imposing higher demands on its industrial layout and investment attraction strategies.

In this battle for foreign investment, Qingdao holds a unique advantage:

German-funded enterprises.

From January to November 2025, German direct investment in China surged to EUR 7 billion, a year-on-year increase of 55.5%, reaching a four-year high.

Specifically for Qingdao, Germany is Qingdao's largest trading partner and source of foreign investment in Europe. To date, over 430 German-funded projects have settled in Qingdao, with a total investment exceeding USD 2.7 billion.

The vast German-funded foundation provides Qingdao with an excellent springboard to connect with Germany's and even Europe's innovation ecosystems.

In addition, Qingdao must pay special attention to upgrading cooperation with existing foreign-funded projects.

For example, Hexagon's AEON humanoid robot has already been deployed at BMW's Leipzig plant in Germany, primarily undertaking high-voltage battery assembly and component manufacturing tasks.

Currently, Qingdao's embodied intelligence industry layout features a group of enterprises in key segmentation areas but lacks an integrated enterprise that can connect them all.

For instance, Guohua Intelligent, which focuses on precision harmonic reducers, has received investment from Xiaomi; Zhenhe Industrial has not only invested in the first humanoid robot stock and the current leader in shipments, Zhiyuan Robotics, through a partnership but has also leveraged its technical accumulation in chain transmission to layout dexterous hands; Fengguang Precision has the mass production capacity for the full range of 03-32 harmonic reducers in the humanoid robot field, with the 03 model filling the domestic gap in miniature high-precision robot joint components.

Therefore, Qingdao particularly needs to seize the commercialization window of Hexagon's AEON humanoid robot and strive to attract its robotics regional headquarters and manufacturing base to settle in Qingdao. Through this integrated leader and R&D headquarters, it can drive the localization of key components such as harmonic/planetary reducers, dexterous hands, motors and electric drive systems, and precision bearings, forming an embodied intelligence industrial cluster of "precision measurement-core components-integrated manufacturing-scenario applications" and creating a new hub for intelligent manufacturing north of the Yangtze River.

For Qingdao, the next step is to fully leverage its industrial foundation and open advantages, formulating more targeted and efficient investment attraction strategies to secure the establishment of more R&D centers by multinationals.

At the same time, it must benchmark against globally advanced cities, exerting efforts from both the policy and urban soft power perspectives to create a world-class business environment for the development of multinationals in Qingdao.

The window of opportunity has opened; now, it's up to Qingdao to seize it.