Construction is well underway at the Qingdao Jiaodong Airport, which is located in Jiaozhou - a city under the administration of Qingdao - and it is expected to dramatically boost Qingdao's economy, as well as its international influence.

"Qingdao's new airport is expected to come into service in the second half of next year, forging itself into a regional gateway airport, catering to passengers traveling to and from Japan and South Korea, and an international air cargo pivot airport on the Bohai Rim," said Sun Zubin, head of the general affairs office of the Qingdao Jiaodong Airport.

Xu Dongchang, an executive of the general management department at the Qingdao Jiaodong Airport, said: "The new airport broke ground in 2015. Construction of the main structures in the terminal area, the flight area and the supporting area has been completed."

The airlines bases, air traffic control offices and aviation oil facilities - on the periphery of the new airport - are under construction at full speed, and are scheduled to be put into use together with the new airport, Xu added.

The Jiaodong airport is ranked as 4F, internationally the highest level for an airport and the same ranking as Beijing Capital International Airport and Shanghai Pudong International Airport.

Big civil aviation aircraft including the jumbo Airbus 380 and Boeing 747 can take off and land at the new airport.

By 2045, when both of the airport's phases are completed, Jiaodong will be able to serve about 55 million passengers a year and handle about 1 million metric tons of cargo per year, allowing 452,000 landing and takeoffs.

The new Qingdao airport is also designed as a "comprehensive transportation hub featuring seamless transfer to public transportation", officials said.

The terminal building will be home to stations for a high-speed railway, subways and buses, which will make it possible for passengers to reach the city center of Qingdao within an hour and get to other major cities on the Jiaodong Peninsula within two hours.

The infrastructure of the Qingdao Jiaodong Airport Economic Demonstration Zone, including water facilities, electricity, roads, gas and communication, are being constructed at full tilt, aiming to shore up the new airport by the time of its opening.

The economic demonstration zone is expected to be developed into a high-end airport industrial base and a modern ecological intelligent airport new town, which aims at clustering professionals, information and capital, according to Sun.

Leveraging the international routes and the economic demonstration zone, the new airport looks forward to establishing a new "Silk Road" high in the sky, strengthening the connectivity among the member states of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization and improving Qingdao's competitiveness in international competition and cooperation, according to local officials.