Though attacked by the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), 1,360 joint ventures were created in Beijing last year, about three each day.
During the past year, global foreign direct investment (FDI) has been dropping, but Beijing attracted 2.15 billion US dollars of FDI, up 19.8 percent from the previous year, said Li Zhao, director of Beijing Commerce Bureau Friday at the 2004 Beijing Foreign Trade and Economic Conference.
About 60 percent of the FDI came from the tertiary industry. In2003, multinational retailers opened 20 outlets in Beijing, the record number of multinational retailing branches ever set up in the city in one year.
In 2003, Beijing optimized the investment environment, trying to attract more investment into modern manufacturing and high-tech industries and deepening reform in the service industry and urban infrastructure construction, Li said.
Beijing will continue to authorize district and county governments the power to approve projects with less than 30 billion US dollars of foreign investment. The city will also actively promote on-line project examination and approvals, which was welcomed by foreign investors during the epidemic period last year.