A cheap location might be a good choice for many companies amid the global financial crisis. And if it's not only inexpensive, but your company shares the same location as famous names it's perhaps even more alluring. Beijing's Advanced Business Park, home to over 180 Fortune 500 companies, includes all these features as well as a Finance Harbor.

This was the official unveiling of the Finance Harbor at the Advanced Business Park, or ABP. The Harbor takes up an area of more than 540 thousand square meters, and was built with a total investment of more than 8 billion yuan. According to some, it's been a long time coming.

Kong Lingbin, ABP Secretary Director said "Hundreds of enterprises now gather in the ABP, with total capital funds of more than 200 billion yuan, and controlling 800 billion yuan in capital both directly and indirectly. These enterprises need financial services, in terms of capital operation and financial accounting."

In contrast to Beijing's Financial Street further downtown, the Finance Harbor aims to be the home of side operations for the big enterprises, such as a service center, information center or credit card center. Though the financial crisis is currently taking a toll, one investor in the ABP believes that the Harbor will provide the park with opportunities in the future.

Xu Weiping, CEO of Dauphin Int'l Group Co. Ltd. said "After the start of the financial crisis, enterprises began to ask themselves how they can reduce costs. They're starting to realize it's critical for financial enterprises to cut down on operating costs. Our Finance Harbor is trying to provide a high-powered, convenient financial district for both domestic and international financial enterprises."

So far the ABP has attracted more than 400 large-scale domestic and foreign enterprises, and it's estimated that 500 more enterprises will set up their headquarters there by 2010.

But some of the other business districts - such as the high-tech science park in Zhongguancun, the economic development zone in Yizhuang, and the Central Business District in Chaoyang - have questioned the decision to build an ABP in Fengtai. By September this year, 185 Fortune 500 companies had settled in China: two thirds of those have chosen to make the CBD their home.

Kong Lingbin said "The growth of the ABP has propelled the city planning and infrastructure construction, as well as personnel, and real estate. As more and more enterprises and people arrive here, they will need to eat, live and travel. This will undoubtedly attract related industries."

No matter how advanced it may look on paper, the ability of the ABP concept to boost economic development by combining previous business models has yet to be proven in China.

Analysts say the ABP still has a long way to go before it becomes a global business center, as almost all of its current residents are local firms. But since the main force driving the formation of a headquarters zone is competition based on the cost of land, the ABP should have a bright future. In order to fully exploit the potential of this business model, it's focused on creating a healthy environment for investment.

(CCTV January 12, 2009)