Moving up the value chain

The concept of a "headquarters economy" is gaining increasing importance as means for Chinese cities to grow and modernize, experts said.

With the rapid development of information technology and globalization, companies are now structured differently, with their headquarters often distant from manufacturing facilities located where labor costs are lower.

Liu Muyu, president of the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences, said the theory of the headquarters economy first put forward in 2002 has been widely accepted and well received by many cities after it was put into practice.