The Government Behind an Internationalized Central Business District

TOWARDS the end ot 2004, one of the world’s largest international consultancy firms, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC). set up shop in Beijing’s Central Business District (CBD). The site it selected is the company’s largest property in the Asia-Pacific Region. Executive chairman of PWC China Silas Sin Shun Yang says that Beijing is the engine room driving China’s economic development, and PWC’s presence in the nation’s capital would indicate that it plans to channel more funds towards China. Other international financial institutions have also mushroomed in Beijing’s CBD. in the city’s Chaoyang District. By October 2004. 17 of the 24 foreign bank branches and 68 of the 91 foreign bank representative offices in Beijing appeared in and around the CBD. Six of the world’s ten most competitive banks have entered Beijing, and more are expected to follow this year. as China enters the latter stage of the post-WTO transitional period, and accelerates opening up of its financial sector.