JINAN, Dec. 25 (Xinhua) -- The number of Hong Kong-invested enterprises in east China's Shandong Province has reached 3,978, according to the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (Shanghai).

The Hong Kong investors have put money into sectors ranging from manufacturing, real estate, wholesale and retail to new energy and materials, Tang Chung-man, director of the office, said Monday on the sidelines of an exhibition held in Shandong's capital Jinan.

Tang added Shandong's actual use of investment from Hong Kong has reached around 40 billion U.S. dollars.

In 2017, Shandong's GDP beat the 7-trillion yuan mark, ranking third in the country.

Shandong and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region have maintained close economic and trade relations. By the end of 2017, more than 800 Shandong-based enterprises had invested a total of 91.5 billion yuan (about 13.3 billion U.S. dollars) in Hong Kong, Tang said.

The Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office in Shanghai was set up in 2006 to foster closer cooperation between Hong Kong and Shanghai Municipality as well as the provinces of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui and Shandong in eastern China.