Ongoing Economic Structural Transformation Although GDP Growth Slowed Down
Qingdao is a municipality with an independent planning status enjoying provincial-level status in the economic planning and independent budgetary status directly linked to the central government. Ongoing economic and industrial structural transformation and modernisation have supported Qingdao’s high GDP growth rate which was 6.5% in 2019, compared with Shandong province’s 5.5% and China’s 6.1%. The proportion of tertiary industry (the service sector) in GDP further increased to 60.9%, while the secondary industry’s (comprising manufacturing and construction) share of GDP dropped to 35.6% in 2019.