Qingdao has established friendly relations with 86 cities in 48 countries and innovatively promoted the establishment of friendship village ties between Huangnixiang in the Qingdao West Coast New Area and a village in St. Patrick, Grenada, according to local officials.
Qingdao regards practical cooperation with sister cities as a long-term project and has established a platform for cooperation activities.
In 2021, it created the "Building Future through Sister-city Cooperation" brand for external exchanges, making use of sister-city channels to promote exchanges in trade, culture, technology, and other areas.

So far, nearly 200 events have been held under this brand, facilitating the launch of the Qingdao-Manheim railway express and the Qingdao-Samarkand SCO express, promoting cooperation between Qingdao Port and international ports such as the Port of Long Beach in the United States and the Port of Antwerp-Bruges in Belgium.

It has also facilitated interaction between the China-SCO Local Economic and Trade Cooperation Demonstration Area and several parks including the Belarusian Vitebsk Free Economic Zone, as well as the signing of a series of cooperation agreements between Chinese and foreign chambers of commerce and enterprises.

In 2022, Qingdao launched the "Youthful Qingdao" activity brand, organizing young people from sister cities to engage in efforts promoting the city and multicultural exchanges through online classes, artistic performances, handicraft making, and other forms.
Up to now, nearly 30 events have been held, with more than 700 young people from China and abroad participating.