Market potential and investment activity vary widely throughout China (Table I-1). For instance, per capita GDP in Southeast China averages more than 50 percent above the Northeast’s and 150 percent above the averages for Central and Southwest China. Attracted by richer markets and cheaper access to ocean transport, per capita foreign direct investment (FDI) in the Southeast provinces averaged $128 in 2004. This is 130 percent above per capita FDI for the Northeast, more than 7 times the average for Central China, and more than 25 times the average for western China. Consistent with this pattern, foreign-invested enterprises (FIE) account for 43 percent of industrial assets in the Southeast, versus 15 percent in the Northeast, 9-10 percent in Central and Southwest China, and 5 percent in the Northwest. This diversity highlights the importance of investment climate for economic development throughout China. In lagging regions, FDI could provide a powerful boost to growth. For a foreign investor interested in access to a lagging region’s markets or resources, city-level differences in investment climate could have a decisive effect on city selection. Domestic private investment is likely to play a much greater role, however, in the development of China’s lagging regions. Thus, the investment climate for domestic business start-up and development is vitally important for China’s lagging regions. As for China’s vibrant coastal areas, city-level differences in investment climate may also exert a powerful influence on the choice of investment destination. Given the importance of both domestic and foreign investment for growth, previous World Bank investment climate surveys of Chinese cities attracted substantial interest. Ease of entry or exit for domestic businesses, skill and technology endowments, labor flexibility, access to finance, private sector participation, and courts efficiency emerged as significant factors in business investment decisions.2 These earlier surveys suffered from some limitations, however, including the exclusion of some important cities and provinces; insufficient consideration of important “city characteristics” (e.g., market size, transport costs); and a lack of attention to linkages among investment climate, urban infrastructure and quality of life, and social benefits consistent with progress toward a harmonious society. All firms are from industry (Table I-3). This is intended to promote consistency since some services (e.g., financial services) are prone to greater regulation and the inclusion of higher numbers of such service businesses in some cities (e.g., Beijing, Shenzhen, Shanghai) could distort survey results. For each city, the top 10 industries in terms of sales revenue are drawn. For each industry, all firms in the sample universe are divided into large, middle and small firms, each accounting for 1/3 of total industry revenue. Then from each of three types of firms, an equal number of firms are drawn.6 Firms are required to have a minimum of 10 employees.
世界银行120城市投资环境下载