Tianjin has become a hot spot for foreign investment.According to statistics by the end of2007, investors from 131 countries and regionshave invested in Tianjin with the number offoreign-invested enterprises approved being20,357 and the value of contracts signed withforeign enterprises reaching US$ 77.843 billion.Foreign investment in place amounts to US$ 39.75billion.

In history, Tianjin is one of the port citiesopened up for foreign trade. A lot of well-knownentrepreneurs and financiers came here to startbusiness at early days. As one of the origins ofmodern industry in China, Tianjin always highlightsa nature of ancient commercial city. Nowadays,it is the largest coastal city in North China.Its improving investment environment, appealingmarket and abundant return for investmenthave attracted a great number of foreign-investedenterprises to set foot in Tianjin.

In 1987, “Foreign Investment Office of TianjinMunicipal Government” (also referred to asTianjin Foreign Investment Service Center) wasset up in order to encourage foreign investment.Since 2004, a city-wide event calledService Month has been held in early June orJuly every year. The event covers activities suchas Public Reception Day, Commending Conferenceof Foreign-invested Enterprises, Lectureon Investment Environment and Policy Update.

With the ever-growing foreign investment toTianjin, foreign-invested enterprises have beenactive in increasing their investment. In 2007, averageinvestment for individual foreign-investedproject was US$ 21.36 million, while value ofcontract signed with foreign enterprises wasUS$ 12.71 million, increasing by 55.3 percent and64.5 percent respectively year-on-year.

Industrial structure of Tianjin has been keepingoptimized all the time. In particular, the city’ssecondary industry is undergoing optimization,while tertiary industry is taking a great leap.Rising continuously is the proportion of hightechprojects featuring intense investment,advanced technology, less resource used andbetter structured. In 2007, foreign direct investment(FDI) absorbed by the tertiary industryin Tianjin outnumbered that by the secondaryindustry in terms of percentage. Value of contractsigned with foreign enterprises within thetertiary industry took up 58 percent of the totalforeign investment in Tianjin, with a significantincrease of 56.9 percent year-on-year. Foreigninvestment in place for the tertiary industrywas US$ 2.651 billion in 2007, with a rise of 85.3percent year-on-year.

In addition, three kinds of foreign-funded ventures(joint, cooperative and foreign-owned)have achieved decent economic results. In2007, these enterprises registered a total industrialoutput of RMB 497.772 billion, takingup 49.4 percent of total volume and maintainingan increase of 11 percent year-on-year.Total profits scored RMB35.513 billion, up 18.6percent year-on-year. Per capita sales reachedRMB 943,200 yuan.

After China joined the WTO, Tianjin began toexpand its scope of trade and investment promotion.Multinationals like Carrefour and Wal-Mat rushed to explore markets here in Tianjin.

As the development of Binhai New Area waswritten into the national strategy, the historicalmission and development target of Tianjin havearose to a new record height. The city’s tradeand investment promotion campaigns areexpanding, widening their scope and reachinga new level. In 2007, contracted foreign capitaldirectly utilized by the Binhai New Area wasUS$ 7.668 billion, US$ 3.924 billion of whichwas actually in place, up 24.1 percent and 17.3percent year-on-year respectively, accountingfor 66.6 percent and 74.4 percent of total volumein Tianjin.

Headed by Airbus, a great number of marketleaders of global manufacturing settle in theprospering Binhai New Area; The innovativelycooperative projects, such as the DongjiangBonded Port Area and Sino-Singapore Eco-City, were put into operation. Top 10 logisticsgiants have invested huge into the constructionof Tianjin harbor and airport. The scale ofoutbound cooperation in high-end businessarea has been enlarged 10 times.