Chaoyang Beijing's top district for multinational headquarters

More than 120 multinational companies have set up their regional headquarters in Beijing's Chaoyang district, accounting for 70 percent of the capital's total, making it the top choice among all 16 city districts, according to newly released figures.

Chaoyang, home to Beijing's central business district, has 888 business headquarters, one fifth of the city's total, the figures revealed.

Wang Hao, Party secretary of Chaoyang district, was pleased the total but said more work still needed to be done. "Next our district will place more emphasis on quality and optimization of the headquarters economy and its industrial transformation after this round of rapid development in quantity."

Only 48 multinational companies had headquarters in Chaoyang in 2009, contributing about 417 million yuan ($70.1 million) in revenue to the district, the figures show. The income stood at 3.5 billion yuan last year, representing an average yearly growth of 70 percent.

According to the Commerce Commission of Chaoyang, the district will release funding to support headquarters in the sectors of technological and cultural innovation as well as encourage companies to establish operational bodies for development and research, sales, centralized operations of funding and settlement.

Wang said that the district should invest in cutting-edge industries to forge its economic structure. "We will work on a guidance list for industrial development, adjust and improve policies for major sectors including headquarters economy, service and the acquisition of companies," he said.

The district government plans to provide 4 billion yuan this year to improve the quality and efficiency of the economy, he added.

According to the figures, leasing and commercial service, finance, technological service, information service as well as culture, sports and entertainment are the five major industries of Chaoyang, contributing nearly half of the district's GDP in the first half of this year.