Beijing on average has witnessed the debut of two foreign-investment firms every day in the first quarter of the year, according to China Youth Daily.
Li Zhao, director of Beijing Foreign Trade Commission, said two agencies for foreign firms also opened every day during the period on average, adding the growth of foreign investment in Beijing was on an "unprecedentedly" strong momentum.
Beijing approved a total of 259 foreign firms during the first three months of this year, actually utilizing US$1.623 billion of foreign investment.
Li said Beijing had modified and nullified a number of local legal provisions, with a view to providing legal guarantees for foreign firms.
There were so far 1,270 foreign trade enterprises in Beijing, 1, 066 of which were established within the last five years, Li added. A diversified composition of trade firms had formed in Beijing.
Last year, as many as 1,147 foreign-funded firms opened for business in Beijing, with the contracted investment totaling US$3.22 billion, according to sources.
(Xinhua News Agency April 24, 2002)
