Beijing is inviting large international businesses to offer their assistance and suggestionsfor the city's development as it is determined to make the 2008 Olympic Games a success and seize opportunities brought about by China's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO).
This is what both Jia Qinglin, secretary of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, and Mayor Liu Qi made clear at a meeting Wednesday with participants attending the fourth annual meeting of the International Business Leaders Advisory Council for the Mayor of Beijing.
The two-day annual meeting focused on the Olympics Games and Beijing's development, and China's WTO accession and Beijing's opening-up.
Heinrich von Pierer, president and CEO of Siemens AG, praised Beijing for its progress in communications, environmental protection, scientific and technological development and investment environment.
He said he hoped that the meeting would help the participants learn more about the city so they will be able to provide practical suggestions.
There are 21 well-known names in the council, 17 of whom attended this year's meeting.
(People's Daily May 23, 2002)