Tianjin is one of the port cities in China that were first opened up to foreign trade. A lot of well-known entrepreneurs and financiers came here to start business at its early days. As the still under-construction economic center in Northern China and an international port and ecological city, Tianjin is attracting more attention from overseas investors with its rapidly improving investment environment, prevalent entrepreneurship, appealing development prospects and handsome expected investment returns. The scale and quality of foreign investment in Tianjin has steadily improved accordingly. According to statistics by June of 2009, investors from more than 130 countries and regions have invested in Tianjin with the number of foreign-invested enterprises approved reaching 21,336 and the value of contracts signed with foreign enterprises hitting US$ 98.5 billion. The size of the actual utilization of foreign investment amounted to US$ 52.1 billion.

Tianjin approved 691 foreign-invested enterprises in 2008, with the value of contracted foreign investment amounting to US$13.26 billion and actual utilization of foreign investment hitting US$7.42 billion, up 15 percent and 40 percent year-on-year respectively. The foreign investment in service sector registered torrid growth, with the value of contracted foreign investment reaching US$ 9.3 billion and actual utilization of foreign investment standing at US$ 4.5 billion, up 40 percent and 70 percent year-on-year respectively, or accounting for 70 percent and 61 percent of the city’s total. The number of big-ticket projects increased markedly, with the number of US$ 30 million foreign invested projects reaching 126. The average investment for newly approved individual foreign-invested project in 2008 was close to US$ 20 million, increasing by 50 percent from a year earlier. And a total of 667 foreign-invested enterprises increased their investment in 2008, with combined investment of US$ 4.15 billion, indicating their confidence in the future of Tianjin. Among the world’s 500 biggest companies, 130 have already had operations in Tianjin by the end of 2008, investing in 368 projects with a combined investment of US$6.88 billion.

The Binhai New Area has maintained vibrant growth momentum. It recorded contracted and actual utilization of foreign investment of US$ 9.2 billion and US$ 5.1 billion in 2008, up 20 percent and 30 percent year-on-year respectively, accounting for nearly 70 percent of total volume in Tianjin. The comprehensive reform and experimental development of the Binhai New Area has entered into a full stage. With the approval of ship-building industry investment fund and venture capital steering fund, the number of equity and venture capital fund has reached 218 in the city. Tianjin successfully held the Third China International Private Equity Forum. The city has also established and put into operations Tianjin Climate Exchange, Tianjin Equity Exchange and Binhai International Equity Exchange. The construction of industrial functional zones and university community is proceeding smoothly. The big-ticket projects are also progressing solidly. The construction of dozens of commercial buildings started in Xiangluo Wan business district. Sino-Singaporean Tianjin Eco-city also broke ground and the Airbus A320 Final Assembly Line went on steam. Meanwhile, the Beijiang Power Plant started installing the equipment at its power-water-salt integration project, a pilot program under the country’s recycling economy campaign. Projects in the area such as the new generation of transportation rocket, the unmanned plane, multifunctional sporty car by FAW-Toyota, the one-million-ton ethylene and Novo Nordisk’s insulin production expansion ventures are all under way, smoothly.