Zhang Mao, vice mayor of Beijing, announced in Beijing Wednesday that the national capital had approved 15,882 overseas-financed businesses by the end of last year.
The contracts involve US$32.13 billion of overseas investment, Zhang said at a seminar on development of multinationals in Beijing.
According to Zhang, some 158 of the world's top 500 companies have carried out investment projects in Beijing. Some 15 of these companies have set up headquarters in the city.
Meanwhile, some 45 multinationals have established 48 research and development centers here.
The overseas investors, especially those in high-tech fields, have boosted local economic restructuring and industrial technology upgrading, Zhang added.
(Xinhua 04/11/2001)
