Qingdao in Shandong province enjoyed sound capital market development with direct financing totaling 46.2 billion yuan ($7.1 billion) in 2015, according to the city financial office on Jan 4.

Six local companies went public on the main board of mainland or overseas exchanges in 2015, bringing the total number of listed companies to 41.

Among them, the Bank of Qingdao Co went public on the main board of Hong Kong Exchanges (HKEx) and Clearing in Dec 2015, becoming the first banking company listed in the international capital market in Shandong and the third Qingdao company listed on HKEx.

The city also added 44 companies to the National Equities Exchange and Quotations, or the New Third Board, in 2015. So far, 56 companies have been listed on the New Third Board.

By the end of 2015, the Qingdao Blue Ocean Equity Exchange, a regional capital exchange house, reached a total financing volume of 2.7 billion yuan and became a comprehensive financing platform for local small and medium enterprises.