The national capital of Beijing has remained attractive to investors all over the world despite the threat of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS).
Sources from the municipal commission of commerce said that projects with foreign direct investment surged in the city in the first five months of 2003, involving a total investment of US$2.16 billion, up 41 percent from the same period last year.
In May alone, the municipality approved new overseas financed projects with a contractual overseas investment of US$140 million, up 16.3 percent, and in the same month, the city also had an inflow of US$250 million of overseas investment, up 10.4 percent.
The outbreak of SARS virus has not halted 10 overseas financed businesses entering the Chinese national capital.
On June 4, Motorola made Beijing the headquarters for its North Asian operations, and American International Assurance Co. Ltd., which entered Beijing a year ago, announced that it planned to establish a third business development center in Beijing.
Ikea's China operation announced a plan to build four new department stores in Beijing before 2007 at a cost of US$250 million.
Deutsche Bank Ag or German Bank carried out a survey of 29 out of the Fortune 500 companies that have made investments in China, and 88 percent of them believed SARS would have a negative impact on foreign direct investment into China.
But the impact would be limited to the contractual investment volume, not the actual inflow of overseas investment into the country.
The city of Beijing was one of the worst hit areas by SARS in China. The World Health organization (WHO) renewed an advisory against travel to the capital on April 12 and service trade in the city was somewhat affected.
(China Daily June 18, 2003)
