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Qingdao青岛

North ChinaNew Tier 16 policieslast updated 2026-03-11
Qingdao skyline

Photo from Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA).

The city that registered China's first foreigner-owned OPC — a Korean designer got her license the same day she applied (Mar 2026). With 10+ OPC parks and Laoshan's ten-measure policy list, Qingdao is proving the most welcoming door for foreign solo founders.

For foreign founders in Qingdao

Qingdao's foreigner-first process is its differentiator: bilingual service teams, a dedicated green channel, and same-day licensing (当天申报、当天审核、当天发放). 649 OPCs were registered city-wide in the first weeks of the policy wave.

Policy support by dimension

RegistrationRegister
First foreigner-owned OPC, same-day license

On 3 Mar 2026, a Korean designer registered Qingdao's first foreign-owned OPC in Chengyang district with 'apply, review, issue — all in one day', supported by a dedicated bilingual service team and green channel. The city's enterprise platform added an 'OPC single-person AI startup' guidance zone.

Gov. report, Mar 2026
Compute & AICompute
OPIE platform + compute & model coupons

Qingdao launched the OPIE single-person AI entrepreneur platform (with the CAS Institute of Computing) covering data governance, model training/inference, compute scheduling and agent trading. 'Compute coupons' and 'model coupons' cut technical costs; vertical-domain LLM products passing evaluation get up to ¥1M each.

Gov. report, Mar 2026
FundingFunding
Loans, subsidies & interest rebates

Startup guaranteed loans up to ¥4M (first policy batch); Laoshan offers loan interest subsidies up to 100% of LPR (max ¥1M per company), ¥200k first-time high-tech enterprise rewards, ¥200k living subsidies for top software talent, and ¥50k–150k entrepreneurship contest prizes.

Laoshan policy list, Feb 2026
SpaceSpace
10+ OPC parks & 500 m² carrier support

Shinan, Shibei, Laoshan and the high-tech zone host 10+ OPC parks with service stations; Laoshan offers up to 500 m² of carrier space via review, and youth housing at 60% of market rent for the first three years.

Gov. report, Mar 2026
Visa & stayVisa
Bilingual green channel for foreign founders

Chengyang's bilingual team and dedicated green channel remove the language barrier for foreign registration; standard work-permit rules apply for residence. Ideal for foreign founders who want a fast, low-friction first registration.

Gov. report, Mar 2026
RegulationRules
Two policy batches in one month

Qingdao issued two OPC policy lists in under a month (2026): the first cut technical barriers (compute/model coupons, loans); the second added space, launch support and scenario supply — full-cycle support from incubation to growth.

Gov. report, Mar 2026
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