Guo Shuqing, acting governor of Shandong, emphasized the province's determination to promote the service sector, especially its financial services industry on Wednesday, in a roundtable breakfast meeting with executives of leading finance companies including Blackstone Group and Goldman Sachs (Asia) in Hong Kong.

The meeting was one important event of the 2013 Shandong-Hong Kong Trade and Investment Week.

The province has achieved satisfactory results in its finance industry. In 2012, the sector's value-added output reached 201.8 billion yuan ($33 billion), up by 19 percent, taking 4 percent of GDP. Total social financing was 928.4 billion yuan, an increase of 118.2 billion yuan.

There were 237 listed companies in Shandong by the end of 2012, which raised 304.8 billion yuan. Up to now, 91 companies are listed overseas, with total financing of 80.6 billion yuan.

In 2012, Shandong invested 1.52 trillion yuan in the service industry, up by 13 percent from 2007. The province aims to increase the service industry's GDP contribution from 40 percent in 2012 to more than 50 percent by 2020.

Antony Leung Kam-chung, chairman of Blackstone Group in Greater China, and former financial secretary of Hong Kong, said there could be more room for further cooperation between the company and Shandong in the service sector.

As an international financial center with strong financing capability and unobstructed channels to overseas markets, Hong Kong has already provided a sound platform for Shandong-based businesses to raise money and go international.

By the end of 2012, 39 Shandong companies had listed on the Hong Kong stock market, raising capital of $7.13 billion.

On the same day, a total of 81 major deals with a combined investment of $26 billion were agreed at the 2013 Shandong-Hong Kong Trade and Investment Week.

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