London is wooing mainland companies to bid for contracts for the 2012 Olympics, using the close of the Beijing Games as a springboard for attracting greater investment to the British capital.
Beijing Urban Construction Group and Beijing-based Crystal Digital Technology are among several mainland companies considering making bids, according to the head of Think London, the foreign direct investment agency for London.
Honav, another Beijing-based company, has already been awarded a multimillion-pound contract to manufacture souvenir pin badges for the next summer Olympics.
'There are US$8 billion worth of commercial opportunities that Chinese companies will have the opportunity to bid for,' said Think London chief executive Michael Charlton.
Mr Charlton, who was in Beijing before a 12-city promotional tour around the mainland that starts today, said mainland companies were in a good position to use their experience of this year's Games to win contracts in London.
Beijing Urban, the lead contractor on the 'Bird's Nest' stadium, had 'expressed clear indications of interest in bidding for sites in London' while Crystal Digital, which provided the computer graphics used in the opening ceremony, were also 'very interested in bidding for business around 2012', he said.
Representatives of the 2012 Olympics, including the Mayor of London Boris Johnson, have spent the past week meeting mainland businessmen from their Olympic base in Beijing's lake district.