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Olympic Boon to Trade with China2008 Beijing Summer Olympics Encouraging Investors and Investment
Billions of people watched the 2008 Beijing Olympics. China went all out to showcase itself as the emerging world leader and prime investment opportunity. Will it work?
Visitors to Beijing who saw the Chinese capital before and after the 2008 Olympic Games say they barely recognized the place. The government of China spent tens of billions of dollars building infrastructure and cleaning up the air in Beijing. While on the surface this may appear to be a vain attempt to improve China's image, indications are that the investment will pay dividends for China for years to come. Beijing Olympics InvestmentLee M. Sands of the China Business Review writes, "The huge inflows of investment to support the Olympics and recreate Beijing have had an important ripple effect on economic growth, not simply in Beijing but in areas surrounding the capital. The Beijing Statistical Bureau estimates that spending on the Olympics has added 2.5 percent annually to Beijing's overall economic growth since 2002." Trade with ChinaAll indications are that China's trade growth will continue, encouraged in large part to the country's investment in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Sands says, "though China has experienced some significant hardships this spring, the games will probably be even more important to the country than initially expected." China Investment Opportunity Despite HardshipsThose hardships include vocal protests of China leading up to the Beijing Olympic games. They made headlines but don't appear to have dampened investor enthusiasm for China. The Sichuan province earthquake on May 12, 2008 showed China's willingness to open their borders to the international community when they accepted offers for aid. Despite the hardships, China appears to have come through the 2008 Beijing Olympics unscathed with Chinese heroes such as Yao Ming being celebrated on a worldwide stage. Olympics Encouraging InvestorsThe success of the 2008 Beijing Olympics on a world stage has investors excited about the future. Wei Luo, an Austin, Texas entrepreneur who does business in both the United States and China says, "I am anticipating a two-way BOOM for both companies in China and in any country after the Olympic Games." China Emerging World LeaderOrlando Kelm, an Associate Professor at the University of Texas, points to the eagerness to cash in on the excitement over the investment climate after the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Kelm says, "when I conducted my interviews with Chinese execs in January, I was impressed by the 'short-term' focus that everyone had. There was a strong sense of taking advantage of new opportunities NOW. It was interesting because traditionally you think of China as a culture with a long-term focus." There is no doubt that times are changing for both China and the United States.
The copyright of the article Olympic Boon to Trade with China in China is owned by Kent Ninomiya. Permission to republish Olympic Boon to Trade with China in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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