On September 20, 2018, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs held the 15th promotion event presenting Chinese provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities under the theme of China in the New Era: New Shandong with New Growth Drivers, A Win-Win for the World at the Blue Hall of the Ministry. State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi delivered a speech. Secretary of Shandong Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Liu Jiayi addressed the event, and Governor of the People's Government of Shandong Province Gong Zheng gave the presentation. More than 500 people including Secretary of the CPC Committee of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Zhang Yesui, Vice Foreign Minister Le Yucheng, Vice Foreign Minister Qin Gang, diplomatic envoys in China from over 140 countries, representatives from international organizations in China, delegates from industrial and commercial sectors, Chinese and foreign experts, scholars as well as journalists attended the event.

Wang Yi expressed that looking back at history, Shandong Province has nourished the root and soul of Chinese civilization. Confucianism founded by Confucius has always been nourishing the inner world of the Chinese nation. Ideas of peaceful coexistence, such as "harmony is most precious and harmony in diversity" and "loving people and treating neighbors kindly, and the whole world is one family", have been endowed with new epochal connotation. China in nowadays is actively promoting the building of a new type of international relations, and is willing to work with various countries to jointly build a community with a shared future for mankind.

Wang Yi expressed that since the beginning of reform and opening up, Shandong Province has become the vanguard of China's leapfrog development. Entering the new era, General Secretary Xi Jinping proposed an important idea for Shandong Province to replace old industries with new ones and rejuvenate development via industrial upgrade, and demanded that Shandong Province should accelerate the rise of emerging industries, promote the transformation from old driving forces to new ones, form a new development model, and explore new ways of development. The idea has charted the course for the high-quality development of Shandong Province and drawn the blueprint for the future of Shandong Province. The Chinese economy as a whole has also entered the accelerated phase of the transformation from driving forces to new ones, which not only promotes the transformation and upgrading of China's economic structure, but also injects new vitality into the world economy. We are willing to share China's development opportunities with various countries.

Wang Yi said that today we held the 15th promotion event. Along the way, the promotion events have yielded fruitful results. The local government specially sorted out the list of projects, formulated follow-up implementation arrangements, and organized the envoys and reporters in China to visit the locals and conduct effective alignment. The promotion events are moving from the podium to the society and from the Blue Hall to the world. It is hoped that everyone here will continue to support the promotion events, jointly seek opportunities for cooperation, and build a bridge for development and win-win results.

Liu Jiayi expressed that Shandong Province has made great achievements over the past four decades of reform and opening up. However, its original method of economic growth could not meet the new demands of high-quality development, new challenges brought by market economy, and people's new expectations for a better life. General Secretary Xi Jinping has made clear a requirement that Shandong Province should uphold innovative, coordinated, green, open and inclusive development concept, accelerate the supply-side structural reform, and promote high-quality development. Shandong Province now has committed to implementing the innovation-driven development strategy, writing a good chapter of coordinated development, following the path of green development, building new highlands for opening up, and taking the people-oriented approach as a development goal. Gong Zheng presented Shandong Province in such aspects as innovation development, rural vitalization, maritime economy, green ecology, culture inheritance, advantages in opening up, and business environment. He invited friends from all countries to share the new opportunities of development, and write a new chapter for cooperation.

Russian Ambassador to China Andrey Denisov, Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to China Noh Young-min, Ambassador of the United Kingdom to China Barbara Janet Woodward, Zambian Ambassador to China Winnie Chibesakunda, and German Ambassador to China Clemens von Goetze respectively introduced the situation of exchanges and cooperation between their countries and Shandong Province. Fully recognizing the historical and cultural status and economic development potential of Shandong Province, they expressed that they will make positive efforts to propel their countries to further enhance friendly exchanges and expand mutually beneficial cooperation with Shandong Province.

After the presenting activity, the government of Shandong Province held the symposium on replacing old growth drivers with new ones. Vice Foreign Minister Qin Gang and Vice Governor Wang Shujian of Shandong Province attended the symposium.