InvestHK opened a service center in Shanghai on Wednesday to promote Hong Kong's advantages as a business location and to support Chinese mainland companies interested in setting up in the city.

According to the Information Services Department of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government, the office will be staffed by four inward investment professionals and will provide free services including market research, advice on office rental, staff hiring, visa issues and networking opportunities.

Hong Kong Director-General of Investment Promotion Mike Rowse said on the office-opening ceremony that a larger presence in Shanghai is a logical response to the rapid growth in demand for the department's services from companies in the Yangtze River Delta region.

"We look forward to being able to better promote Hong Kong's advantages to the local business community, as well as offering tailored services to individual companies," he said.

"We are seeing a strong trend towards more companies expanding into Hong Kong and we're fortunate that the Central Government, not least the Ministry of Commerce, is very supportive of our efforts to promote the advantages, opportunities and services Hong Kong has to offer," Rowse added.

In 2006, 282 companies from the Chinese mainland invested in Hong Kong, injecting more than 2 billion U.S. dollars into the Hong Kong economy, the Ministry of Commerce has reported recently.

A total of 367 mainland-related companies are now listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange Main Board and GEM markets. Last year, these companies raised 384.9 billion Hong Kong dollars (about 49. 30 billion U.S. dollars), up 94 percent from that of 2005.

Yangtze River Delta companies are well represented with 25 from Shanghai, 21 from Jiangsu province and 17 from Zhejiang province which are in the middle and lower reaches of Yangtze River.

Source: Xinhua