Beijing will open its service industries wider to overseas investors this year, a leading municipal foreign trade official announced in Beijing Tuesday.

Under government guidelines on foreign investment issued by Beijing municipal government, foreign businesses will be allowed to engage in commodity distribution, chain store and E-commerce operations.

In the telecommunications sector, foreign funds will be used toenhance cooperation between two or more high performance firms andto conduct regrouping of enterprises, said Zhou He, deputy director of the city's foreign trade economic cooperation.

International tourist organizations and overseas chambers of commerce are invited to set up regional headquarters or representative offices in Beijing. Foreign firms will also be allowed to open exclusive consultancy services in the fields of engineering, business and investment and public relations and in technical training, maintenance, catering and real estate management.

As part of its preparation for the 2008 Olympic Games, Beijing will allocate 240 billion yuan in infrastructure construction including the renovation of old or dangerous residential houses, environmental protection, sports and tourist facilities.

(21dnn.com March 20, 2002)