China's Hunt for Big Name Companies

Beijing plans to issue a series of regulations in a bid to become home to more multinationals.

Zhang Mao, Beijing's vice-mayor, said that the municipal government has formulated a draft of the regulations and sent it to the relative departments for discussion and improvement. The policies are expected to be released very soon. An official with the city's Commerce Bureau, who wanted to remain anonymous, said the draft includes all of the preferential policies that other municipalities, cities and provinces have promised to offer translational enterprises.

"Beijing boasts unique advantages," said Zhang. "Transnational firms want to be based in an economic policy-making and supervision centre, a hub inhabited by professionals and a location boasting prosperous markets. Beijing is all of that."

Shanghai, southern China's most prosperous city and China's traditional financial centre, is pushing Beijing the hardest. It was the home to 41 multinationals' headquarters, including GE, HSBC, CitiBank, Philip, Carrefour and Kodak, by the end of July.

Experts say headquarters in Beijing are focused on the telecommunication and information industries, while manufacturing, finance and commerce groups prefer Shanghai

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