To attract more international Hi-Tech enterprises to come to Beijing, Beijing plans to offer those enterprises favorable policies such as in taxation, said Mr. Liu Qi, Mayor of Beijing, at a meeting with Mr. Bahote, president and CEO of Agilent Technology.

Mr. Liu explained that the Beijing municipal government would refund 80% of the total taxation paid by those Hi-Tech enterprises at previous year for the use of their daily operation expenditure this year, such as house and vehicle purchasing, etc. He also pointed out that over RMB800 million in taxation among RMB1billion in total had been refunded to the enterprises in Beijing's software industry last year.

Mr. Liu said developing Hi-Tech is one of Beijing's major strategies. As the most informationized city in China, Beijing enjoyed an 18% increase in hi-tech industry last year. Meanwhile, Zhongguancun Science Park, the biggest hi-tech zone in China, is located in Beijing. At present, Beijing is planning to set up six software institutes. It is believed that Beijing provides a most favorable environment to those hi-tech enterprises.

Mr. Bahote expressed his confidence on Beijing's future development and he believed the coming 2008 Olympic Game would bring tremendous opportunities to Beijing. He also disclosed that Agilent would increase its investment in Beijing just after its new laboratory established in Beijing last year.