In December 2024, Qingdao introduced a "10+1" innovative industrial system, featuring two leading sectors—next-generation information technology and artificial intelligence—as its core drivers. Five emerging industries—life sciences, intelligent connected new energy vehicles, low-altitude aviation, green energy, and smart equipment—are expanding its scope, while three foundational sectors—smart home appliances, high-end chemicals and new materials, and modern light industry—strengthen its base. The system also incorporates forward-looking future industries. Within less than two years, this framework has evolved from a planning document into tangible growth momentum.
Data provides the structure, while enterprises fill in the details. Focusing on the flagship companies and projects within the "10+1" system reveals the true pulse of this industrial transformation. The shift from a "planning blueprint" to a "real-world landscape" represents an industrial leap beyond mere statistics. At the Qingdao AI Innovation Application Exhibition Center in Laoshan District, a nearly 2,400-square-meter hall, the "Eye of the Future" display screen projects dynamic light and shadow. A flexible 6-axis industrial robotic arm steadily holds a brush to write calligraphy on rice paper, the Leju Zhijia "Kuafu" humanoid robot demonstrates Tai Chi, and a coffee robot prepares beverages for visitors. These seemingly sci-fi scenes are a microcosm of Qingdao's AI industry moving from labs to real-world applications.
Near the exhibition center, along Zhuzhou Road in Laoshan District, the Qingdao Virtual Reality Industrial Park, covering approximately 2,181 acres, is rapidly expanding. The first phase of the Goertek VR assembly and optical module project has already begun production, and the VR Innovation and Experience Center is now operational. Currently, key projects like the second phase of the Goertek VR assembly base are under accelerated construction. The park has established a full "hardware + software + content" industrial chain, aiming to become the "world's premier VR hub," and now serves as the most dynamic practical platform for Qingdao's next-generation information technology sector.
This scenario is just a glimpse of the broader "10+1" innovative industrial system narrative. Rooted in the city's existing industrial strengths and long-term development goals, the system has been refined into 40 specific tracks. In less than two years, the industrial plan has translated into notable growth: in 2025, the revenue growth rates for both leading and emerging industries exceeded 10%. The combined revenue of the two leading sectors surpassed 250 billion yuan, while the five emerging industries achieved nearly 600 billion yuan in total revenue. Behind these numbers is a profound industrial restructuring: a development pattern has emerged where leading and emerging industries are "pacing ahead," future industries are "taking root," and foundational industries are "undergoing renewal."
Qingdao has targeted its industrial breakthroughs at niche segments. In the first quarter of 2026, the output of sensors, VR equipment, and integrated circuit wafers saw year-on-year increases of 136.3%, 115.3%, and 95.4%, respectively. On the CCID Advanced Manufacturing Top 100 Cities list, Qingdao's ranking rose to 6th place. These impressive industrial achievements are not accidental. The city has established a dedicated working group for the innovative industrial system, with each track overseen by a municipal leader and a specialized task force to ensure implementation. Qingdao is also aligning its innovation chains with industrial chains, targeting the development needs of the "10+1" sectors by implementing 140 key core technology research tasks. In 2025, the city launched the planning for the Science and Innovation Corridor, which has already gathered one national laboratory, eight key national laboratories, eight universities, and 998 high-tech enterprises. From top-level design to grassroots practice, from policy supply to market response, the "10+1" innovative industrial system is rapidly gaining momentum across Qingdao.
If macroeconomic data outlines the framework of the industrial system, then specific enterprises are the flesh-and-blood annotations that bring it to life. On March 30, 2026, Shandong Extreme Vision Technology Co., Ltd. was listed on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, becoming the first IPO on the HKEX from Shandong Province in 2026 and Qingdao's first AI company to list in Hong Kong. As the lead enterprise in the AI track of Qingdao's "10+1" system, Extreme Vision has established a pioneering AI visual algorithm marketplace, boasting over 1,500 image recognition algorithms covering more than 100 industry scenarios, and serving over 3,000 government and enterprise clients. From the "hundred-model war" to models becoming an industrial foundation, Extreme Vision's growth trajectory vividly illustrates Qingdao's AI industry progressing from "gaining momentum" to "establishing momentum."
Outside the AI realm, on the green energy track, the story of Teld is equally compelling. On May 8, 2026, Teld, in collaboration with New Stone and State Grid Qingdao Electric Power Supply Company, launched the world's first unmanned vehicle automatic charging and operations center, "Lai Dao No. 1." Located in Chengyang District, this three-story, multi-story parking facility is planned with 100 charging spaces, equipped with an integrated photovoltaic and ultra-fast charging system, one automatic parking robot, and 100 automatic charging robots, supported by an AI agent for fully coordinated intelligent operations. By leveraging Teld's existing network of 70,000 public charging stations for "relay island" expansions, one "Lai Dao" island combined with ten relay islands can support the charging operations of 1,200 to 1,500 unmanned vehicles. This represents not just a breakthrough in charging technology, but a deep integration of the "green energy" and "intelligent connected new energy vehicles" emerging industry tracks.
Turning to the future industry track of space-aerial information, Qingdao Guoce Haiyao Information Technology Co., Ltd., a high-tech enterprise rooted in Qingdao with a national business scope, has dedicated over a decade to the commercial aerospace and satellite application services sector. Starting with marine remote sensing, the company is now building an independent satellite constellation and an AI-powered intelligent remote sensing interpretation technology system. In the life sciences field, Phosun (Qingdao) Marine Science and Technology Co., Ltd. stands out as a prominent industrial representative for the city. As a national-level "specialized, refined, distinctive, and innovative" "Little Giant" enterprise, Phosun has partnered with the Ocean University of China and top-tier domestic hospitals to launch a clinical application study for "marine phospholipids." Moving from marine functional foods to marine pharmaceuticals, this growth path clearly reflects the logic of Qingdao's life health industry leveraging its local marine research resources for upgrading and transformation.
From artificial intelligence to virtual reality, from green energy to space-aerial information, from life sciences to future-oriented tracks, the growth of individual enterprises and the rise of numerous industrial parks together paint a complete picture of Qingdao's "10+1" innovative industrial system. This industrial advancement, driven by top-level design and powered by market entities, is not only a key lever for reshaping Qingdao's core urban competitiveness but also offers an observable practical model for the technological innovation transformation of manufacturing cities in northern China.
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