A city-sponsored forum this week should raise the profile of a part of downtown Beijing trying to become a Manhattan-like international business magnet, but because of the project's infancy, the meeting will be as much a study session as an investment fair.
Although foreign and Hong Kong investors take an interest in Beijing's Central Business District, they note concerns such as traffic bottlenecks and attractive alternatives elsewhere in China, including other parts of Beijing.
The conference, called the Sino-foreign CBD Development Forum, runs from September 12 through 14, in the Beijing Kerry Centre Hotel..
On day one, participants will hear an overview of the district's five-year history, and on day two planning experts and business people will offer insights such as how to ensure safety in tall buildings - a post-September 11 subject presented by Peter Ayers of Arup engineering consultants in Hong Kong. The third day is for tourism and networking.
The CBD and two co-sponsoring universities are holding this forum, their first, to give businesses a chance to understand the project and sign related contracts. But the sponsors also want to learn more about how to develop the district and pass the knowledge on to other government agencies that are interested, said Yang Shanhua of the CBD's Administrative Commission development and economic affairs division.
More than 300 participants have signed up, Mr Yang said. Participants include government and business leaders from Hong Kong plus business people from Germany, France and North America. The mayors of other Chinese cities, such as Wuhan, Xi'an and Shijiazhuang, which have their own CBD plans, will attend so they can learn from Beijing leaders.
The CBD, a US concept of uniting white-collar businesses in one part of downtown, in Beijing means a four-square-kilometre area slated for as many as 500 office towers. Mini-scale models of the district's future make Beijing look like Manhattan with extra space for parks. Because Beijing will host the 2008 Olympics, the 10-year-old Central Business District is now positioning to be a home, though perhaps not the headquarters, of foreign businesses hoping to leverage the Olympics for business, said Li Cheng of the business district's development office. He said the district was not directly competing with other Asian cities for investment.