Beijing's rapid development of high technology and the modern manufacturing sectors as well as the 2008 Olympic Games will offer huge opportunities to Japanese enterprises investing in the Chinese capital.

Officials and entrepreneurs from China and Japan discussed these prospects at the ongoing Japanese Enterprises' Investment Development in Beijing Symposium and Trading Fair.

Over the coming decade, the Chinese capital is giving priority to the development of its high-tech and modern manufacturing sectors, said Vice-Mayor Zhang Mao.

"Japanese enterprises have advantages in terms of technology and management skills in these sectors, including microelectronics, optical-machinery-electronics integration, and bio-pharmaceuticals," said Zhang.

According to the municipal government, construction and service projects related to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games will provide business opportunities worth 136 billion yuan (US$16.39 billion) for domestic and foreign investors.

"The Japanese companies can play an active role in this grand sports event," said Zhang.

Echoing Zhang, Takeda Katsutoshi, president of the Japanese Chamber of Commerce in China, said both sides would benefit from increased Japanese investment in the Chinese capital.

"Beijing can be regarded as one of the most attractive markets for Japanese business people, when considering its development potential," said Katsutoshi.

"And the city's investment environment has been improving in the recent years, which helps our entrepreneurs operate businesses here."

Statistics from the Beijing Commerce Bureau revealed that Japan's combined contractual investment and actual investment in Beijing reached US$3 billion and US$2.78 billion respectively by the end of last year, sharply rising again this year.

A further 106 Japanese enterprises set up branches, joint ventures or subsidiaries in Beijing from January to August of this year, with a contractual investment and actual investment totalling US$1.47 billion and US$200 million respectively.

Meanwhile, Sino-Japanese trading volume hit US$5.337 billion, up 30.11 percent year-on-year.

Japan is Beijing's second largest trading partner and its top export market.

Lu Yong, director with the administrative committee of the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area (BDA), a hub for foreign high-tech and modern manufacturing enterprises, said that a group of Japanese companies had established themselves in the area.

The firms, such as LMC, a major developer and producer of pneumatic components, appreciate the infrastructure facilities, administrative services and pleasant environment of Beijing and the BDA in particular.

SMC was one of the first batch of foreign enterprises to establish plants in the BDA in the mid-1990s.

In a vote of confidence in Beijing and the BDA, SMC has set up a second plant in the BDA and a third one at Beijing Tianzhu Airport Industrial Park.

(China Daily October 21, 2004)