December 13, 2007 -- China Knowledge Press and Chengdu Bureau of Commerce launched "Chengdu Business Guide", a customized guidebook on investing in Chengdu on December 6 at the Shangri-la Hotel in Chengdu. The launch was supported by Chengdu Association of Enterprise with Foreign Investment (CAEFI).

"Chengdu Business Guide is a first-of-its-kind customized guidebook on investing in Chengdu. With twelve in-depth industry reports in several fields, such as software and business process outsourcing, finance, real estate and electronics manufacturing, the book offers a fresh and comprehensive slice of insider knowledge on Chengdu," Tang Xiaoyou, marketing director China Knowledge's Chengdu office, told Emerging China.

The book includes analytical reviews and an assessment of 20 industrial parks in the city. A business directory is attached as a guide to living and doing business in this business hub.

Senior officials from the Chengdu Bureau of Commerce, executives from the British Chamber of Commerce South West China, International Enterprise Singapore as well as representatives of major multi-national corporations' Chengdu branches all attended the launch ceremony.

It is the third location-specific business guide published by China Knowledge Press after "Doing Business in Shanghai" and "Doing Business in Beijing", according to Tang.

"The market for foreign investment in Beijing, Shanghai or Shenzhen is already saturated. Now, foreign investors have started paying close attention to China's second-tier cities, just like Chengdu city. The city has a lot of advantages," said Tang.

"With a population of 12 million, Chengdu has been recognized as ‘an important central city in southwestern China' by the State Council since 1999. It is an important transportation hub in southwestern China. Currently it ranks third in terms of the number of foreign consulates, after Shanghai and Guangzhou," Su Hong, spokesman of Chengdu Investment Promotion Commission, told Emerging China.

With high-tech economic development zones, industrial parks as an educated workforce from the local colleges, Chengdu is very attractive for different investors all over the world, according to Su.

Chengdu government contributed a lot to this cooperation. The authorities of local government realized the international promotion is very important to the development of a city, said China Knowledge's Tang.

"To meet the long-term and sustainable development requirements of all the investors, one of the main characters of the business guide is extensive statistics, which could reflect the invest environment more directly and accurately," said Tang.

In addition, some of the funds and investment banks from the United States and Europe are also very interested in putting money in this city; they have been busy doing field examination at the time, according to Tang.

China Knowledge will open a new section called "China online" for their website next January, in the middle of which, the Video China category will focus on 15 cities of China to be all-encompassing report, Chengdu is one of them.

After the Chinese government adopted the opening-up policy and strategy of "developing the western region", Chengdu has been experiencing rapid economic growth. Its GDP reached RMB 275 billion in 2006, the second highest among inland Chinese cities.