"Beijing Daily" reported Monday the foreign companies have contacted local government departments and institutions for investment opportunities, and are interested in infrastructure, high-tech and environmental protection projects.

Quoting sources with the Beijing Foreign Investment Service Center under the Beijing Municipal government, the paper said that most of the companies are from Europe, north America and southeast Asian countries.

A British company specializing in environmental protection and power is now negotiating with Beijing for a project involving 100 million US dollars investment to build a power plant through burning garbage, according to the paper.

Many big companies in the Republic of Korea have shown special interest in projects involving infrastructure, real estate and auto exhaust gas treatment, a priority for Beijing to prepare itself for the games.

The paper said a delegation organized by a British-Chinese trade chamber, which represents over 300 British companies, is scheduled to send their first group of companies to Beijing for business opportunities in the near future.

A group of companies from Hong Kong will also come to Beijing for Beijing-Hong Kong Trade Fair scheduled for October.

(Xinhua 07/30/2001)