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An Extraordinary Month in Beijing's Olympic Economy

China's capital city, home to the 2008 Olympic Games and Paralympics, is perhaps the most fascinating investment destination in the world right now. With an estimated need for almost two billion American dollars to be spent in the municipality over the next four years, and a municipal government which is bending over backwards to assist foreign participation in the Olympic economy, there is little mystery as to the reasons for the white hot global focus on Beijing.

The month of April 2004 was a singular one in the burgeoning development of the Olympic economy. No less than three major international conferences took place in Beijing in the space of just two weeks. Business Beijing attended all three events, and is pleased to report the following summaries for those unable to be there in person.

"Invest Beijing" Market Promotion Conference on the Olympic Economy

Staged at the magnificent Beijing Hotel on Beijing's Chang'an Dajie over Sunday 15th and Monday 16th April, this defining event served as the "debutante ball" for the capital's Olympic Economy. Widely reported in the Chinese language press, the hosts (the Beijing Municipal Commission on Development and Reform) introduced a startling 387 major investment projects to a VIP audience of some 500 delegates.

Beijing's Mayor, Wang Qishan, keynoted the conference with possibly the most clear statements yet of Beijing's warm welcome for foreign participation in the 2008-driven boom. Mayor Wang's most direct statement was "We have limited time and the task is huge. To be frank, it is arduous. We must turn Beijing into a more open city." This theme of openness and flexibility towards foreign investment was backed by government official after government official throughout the two days of the jam-packed conference schedule.

Ding Xiangyang, Director of the Beijing Municipal Commission of Development and Reform (BMCDR) presented economic data and forecasts which conservatively suggested an economic bonanza the like of which Beijing has never experienced. Director Ding's main theme was that "The Olympic economy was the accelerating catalyst for the former Olympic cities of Tokyo, Seoul and Barcelona" and the data certainly was compelling for a similar dividend for Beijing.

Dr. Min Tang, China's Chief Economist for the Asian Development Bank presented a very interesting perspective in which the Small to Medium Enterprise (SME) sector was the star. Dr. Min said that "quick, adaptive SMEs will do well" and that of the 1.9 million new jobs created in Beijing due to the Olympic economy, fully "50 percent will be created by SME activity." While Dr. Min acknowledged that "the risks [to foreign companies participating in the Olympic economy] are great", he pointed out that "government policy will help to ameliorate these risks". He went on to say that the local authorities will support a "fair competition platform" to empower SMEs to compete with big multi-national enterprises.

Other senior identities attending the conference included Beijing's Vice Mayor Zhang Mao, the Director Ma Kai of the National Development and Reform Commission, and the presidents, managing directors and CEOs of firms such as Nortel, General Electric, Boeing, Volkswagen, Bayer, Kodak, Daewoo, Lenovo, BASF, and a host of other global leaders.

The 387 Olympic projects, with a total investment value of 15 trillion yuan (US$1.81 billion) encompass "infrastructure construction, stadium and gym construction, modern manufacturing, high technology industrialization, environmental protection, commerce, tourism, medical services and education", Lu Yingchuan, spokesman for the BMCDR told Business Beijing.

A wealth of English-language investment and participation opportunity in the Olympic economy is available at the official Invest Beijing website, at www.bjinvest.gov.cn

Global Construction Summit

Jointly promoted by McGraw-Hill Construction and the China International Contractors Association (CHINCA), the inaugural Beijing Global Construction summit drew 400 North American, European and Asian delegates to the Kempinski Hotel over 15-17 April. The summit, superbly organized by McGraw-Hill (a company boasting over 100 years of support for global construction, architecture and civil engineering) focused much of its business on the opportunities for foreign contractors in Beijing, as well as those for Chinese contractors overseas.

The conference's keynotes, offered by Norbert W. Young Jr, McGraw-Hill Construction's President, and Diao Chunhe, CHINCA's Vice Chairman were strongly focused on the need for partnership and understanding from both sides of the increasingly commonplace collaborations between Western design contractors and Chinese construction conglomerates. Latest strategies in ameliorating the distressingly common cultural misunderstandings between such partnerships were presented.

Of particular interest was the information on the Regulations on Administration of Foreign-Invested Construction Enterprises #113, and on Administration of Foreign-Invested Construction and Engineering Design Enterprises #114, both of which were implemented on 1 December 2002. These critical regulations for foreign construction regulate the types of projects which foreign enterprises are permitted to undertake in China. Information on Regulation #113 is available at http://www.ncsjw.org

Business Beijing thanks the Beijing Municipal Commission on Development and Reform, the European Commission Directorate General Information Society and McGraw-Hill Construction for their kind co-operation.

2^nd EU-China Workshop on Digital Olympics

The European Commission, led by Mr. Pedro de Sampaio Nunes, Director Information Society Strategy & eEurope of the EC's Directorate General Information Society (effectively the EU's Ministry of Information and Communications Technology) sent a senior delegation of some 50 European high-tech identities to Beijing for the 2nd EU-China Workshop on Digital Olympics, held at the Beijing International Convention Centre on April 28.

Jointly hosted by the EC and the Chinese government's Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), this one day event was also endorsed by the Beijing Municipal Government's Commission for Science and Technology (BSTC) and the Office of Informatization, and the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG).

300 invited guests and VIPs were present for the keynote speeches, made by Shi Dinghuan MOST's General Secretary, Du Zhanyuan, Director of MOST's Department of Planning and Development, Yu Cisheng, Deputy Director of the BSTC, and Hou Xinyi BOCOG's Department of Technology Deputy Director and the EC's Mr. de Sampaio Nunes.

In the morning sessions, update reports for Beijing's Digital Olympics'  "key projects" were presented.

The afternoon sessions consisted of a broad range of products, technologies and research projects from Europe and China, all focused on by Shi Dinghuan's stated hope of "making Digital Olympics a highlight of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games." EU-China co-operation in diverse high-tech areas such as Linux, components, database technology, intelligent traffic systems, micro-satellite technology and information security was of particular importance during the workshop.

The EU's website for Digital Olympics co-operation is www.eurochina2002.com/digital_olympics.html