"Beijing, a city that constantly arouses people's desire to conquer, is opening its door wide to the world at unprecedented pace," wrote a reporter of France-based Nouvelles D'Europe three years ago when China just accessed the WTO, when 159 of the world top 500 enterprises had settled down in the city. After that Beijing has seen 2.24 new representative offices of foreign enterprise daily.

A city with most R&D centers of multinational corporations

About 60% of world top 500 enterprises have put up representative offices or R&D centers in Beijing. Beijing has become the city with most R&D centers of multinational corporations in China. More than 8,000 foreign representative offices have made Beijing "capital of multinational corporations' headquarters��.

The multinational corporations have begun moving their investment and research departments to Beijing since 1990s. Intel established first R&D center dedicated to application research in 1998. At the end of 2001, the leading cell phone producer Nokia launched its 10 billion program of the Beijing Xingwang Industrial Park. There years after that, Beijing became the R&D center for 40% of Nokia cell pones.

CBD plays host to 85 world top 500 enterprises

More than 90 percent of 40,000 multinational corporations will consider putting up regional headquarters in China in near future, and 15 percent of them list Beijing as their first choice, a survey of Fortune magazine shows.

A total of 2,500 enterprises have entered the Central Business District (CBD) of Beijing. Of them 800 are foreign enterprises. A total of 120 world top 500 have entered CBD and its adjacent region, representing 75 percent of all world top 500 enterprises in Beijing. The CBD alone plays host to 85 world top 500 enterprises.

With development of commercial belts in Beijing, e.g, those at BDA, Wangjing, Shangdi and East 2nd Ring Road, a multi-center commercial layout will come into being in Beijing gradually.

For the multinational corporations, Beijing is their land of fortune where barriers cannot be found and domestic and foreign capitals receive equal treatments. The "Global Fortune Forum" to open at the Temple of Heave on May 16th, 2005 will once again become world focus. By then 59 representatives of world top 500 enterprises will present the event.

By People's Daily Online