Britain hopes to cash in on legacy of Games

Britain is hoping for more Chinese investment into the legacies of the London Olympic Games.

The calls for more Chinese investment into London come as the United Kingdom is struggling to emerge from a double-dip recession, after two consecutive quarters of contraction in GDP.

UK Trade and Investment hopes at least 1 billion pounds ($1.56 billion) worth of business opportunities can be generated through the Olympic business legacy program, UK Business Secretary Vince Cable said at a news conference in London last week.

UK Trade and Investment will also hold a China Business Day under the Global Investment Summit in London on July 27, the opening day of the Games, hoping to attract investors from all over the world.

The Olympic Games are "a chance for companies from across the globe to interact and do business here in the UK, and the Olympic business legacy program will tell overseas investors why the UK is a great place for them to invest and grow", Cable said.

During his visit to China in April, Gordon Innes, chief executive of London and Partners, the mayor of London's official promotional organization for the city, held a business reception focusing on "the extraordinary scale of development" that has accompanied the Games - with contracts worth about 6 billion pounds already delivered - as well as "the substantial investment opportunities available through Olympic legacy projects".

The post-Games legacy presents Chinese enterprises with a wealth of investment opportunities, according to London and Partners.

Seventy-five percent of the money spent by the Olympic Delivery Authority is being invested in the long-term regeneration of East London.

Major development projects in East London include Tech City, Olympic Park Legacy, Royal Docks, Greenwich Peninsular, Crossrail and the Canary Wharf expansion.

Chinese enterprises are now the second-largest group of foreign investors in London's economic landscape.

Apart from those construction projects, London also hopes to attract innovative and dynamic businesses from China - especially those specializing in the creative, financial services and environmental industries.

For Crystal CG, a Beijing-based creative group of digital and visual services, its success in the 2008 Beijing Olympics has contributed to the company's rapid gain in international recognition, and it is again the official digital imaging service supplier for the London Olympics.

"Crystal CG, in terms of production, design and management, has accumulated a wealth of experience and lessons learned from the 2008 Beijing Games and (preparation for the) 2012 London Games. That is the Olympic legacy for our company," said Li Bingze, account manager of Crystal CG for the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.