Dalian: A premier open coastal city in China

Updated: 2026-06-18

Dalian is among the first batch of open cities on the Chinese coast. It also ranks as one of the cities with the largest number of, and most complete, opening platforms in China.

Standing at the vanguard of Northeast China's opening-up undertakings, Dalian boasts the highest level of foreign investment as well as offering distinct advantages in pooling domestic and foreign resources.

By the end of 2024, the city had approved the establishment of nearly 18,000 foreign-invested enterprises to date, with paid-in foreign capital reaching $119.8 billion. A total of 124 Global Fortune 500 companies had invested in 288 projects in Dalian by that time.

Dalian devotes itself to the task of creating a first-class business environment that is market-driven, rule-of-law-based, and internationally oriented. The city has formulated and implemented 23 initiatives comprising 60 measures and has fulfilled all 62 core commitments. Meanwhile, Dalian has been improving the quality of its public services, while it strives to foster a more open, transparent, and predictable business environment.

Dalian has a warm temperate continental monsoon climate with marine characteristics. It is neither particularly cold in winter nor too hot in summer. The average annual temperature is 10.3 degrees C. In addition to its abundant sunshine, the number of days with superior air quality in 2021 reached 333, having exceeded 300 days for seven consecutive years.

The rate of coastal waters boasting excellent quality reached 98.3 percent. The city's forest coverage rate now stands at 41.5 percent, and it has been awarded the UN Global 500 Roll of Honour for Environmental Achievement, as well as being named a National Sanitary City, National Forest City, and National Garden City. In 2024, Dalian was selected as one of the 10 Most Livable Cities in China.