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Expo investors move to host city

(China Daily)
Updated: 2006-04-29 22:03

With the China Shenyang International Horticultural Exposition 2006 round the corner, more than 100 companies from home and abroad have set up operations in the host city.

Xie Jun, general manager of Singapore-based Dazhong International Investment Co Ltd, which has a five-year operation contract for three main dining plazas in the expo, has even moved her family to Shenyang.

Xie and her husband have bought a car and a house in downtown Shenyang. On a routine day, after sending their daughter off to a nearby kindergarten, the couple drive to the expo park for work.

"We are busy preparing for the operations, such as decorating restaurants, buying kitchen ware, and recruiting and training staff," Xie said. "If we work well in the five-year contract term, we will live on in the city."

Like Xie, an Indian dining service provider has come to the expo park ahead of schedule, to prepare for the opening of its restaurant. The company is ambitious to offer expo visitors the original taste of Indian food.

In another case, a souvenir company from the Republic of Korea, which makes light-sensitive T-shirts and caps, has also shifted to the expo venue.

As the products are made abroad, the company is now taking care of import procedures, product inspection and negotiations with domestic agents.

Similarly, other foreign investors have moved to Shenyang well before the expo.

As early as a few months ago, many had begun to apply for visas and insurance.

Most of the overseas investors now live in the urban area of the city, while a few have chosen the suburbs near the expo park.

Meanwhile, Chinese companies from other parts of the country started to establish branches in Shenyang early this year.

For instance, the Zhejiang Anhai Industrial and Trade Co Ltd, which is authorized to develop watches, leather ware and crystal products as expo souvenirs, opened a branch office at a large commercial building and has eight employees from other cities working there

Lin Jianlang, head of the branch office, has shifted his family to Shenyang.

Other firms in the souvenir business from different Chinese cities such as Zhuhai and Kunming have also set up operations in the city. With branches springing up rapidly, souvenir trade is expected to get fiercely competitive well in advance of the event.

Experts said the city's robust growth is behind these trends ranging from investment in the expo to moving to Shenyang.

According to the municipal report, the city realized gross domestic product of 224 billion yuan (US$28 billion) last year, increasing 16 per cent year-on-year.

Total investment in fixed assets reached 136.3 billion yuan (US$17 billion), up 40.3 per cent year-on-year, and total retail sales of consumer goods amounted to 91.5 billion yuan (US$11.4 billion).