Geographical Advantages
Tianjin is the largest coastal city in northern China with a distance to the Bohai Sea of 50 km and with the capital city of Beijing a mere 120 km away to the northwest. Tianjin is one of China's Big Four municipalities directly under the administration of the Central Government of the P.R.C. and is the economic center of the Bohai area.
Environmental Protection

Throughout the entire city of Tianjin, greenbelts line the roads and emphasis is placed on street beautification as part of a comprehensive plan. Tianjin is one of the most advanced cities in China in terms of maintaining city sanitation conditions and has made raising people's awareness of environmental protection a cornerstone of economic development. A sophisticated environmental monitoring network has been established, monitoring city air, surface water, noise, off-shore seawater and potential sources of pollution.

In 2006, Tianjin was named China's "National Environmental Protection Model City". Major indicators of environmental quality remain stable. Air quality is rated above acceptable international standards 305 days of the year. At the end of 2006, there were 21 environmental monitoring stations, 7 ecological demonstration zones and 8 nature reserves covering an area of 162,800 hectares. Newly developed green-space amounted to 21.72 million square meters, which raised to 37% the green coverage ratio in built-up areas. Per capita public green-space now stands at 6.59 square meters and rising.

Banking and Insurance
More than 2,000 financial institutions (including branches) with a total asset base of 753.36 billion RMB are operating in Tianjin, employing some 46,100 people. There are 1,548 bank branches, including 20 run by foreign banks, 11 of which have been granted the right to transact business in RMB. There are also 75 securities transactions outlets, 12 futures transactions outlets, 2 investment consulting companies and 427 outlets for the insurance industry with a total asset base of 25.15 billion RMB and total premium income of 9.1 billion RMB. The financial sector is quite active and Tianjin ranks first in terms of financing capability in the country. The city is fast becoming northern China's commercial, trading and financial center. In addition, Sunlife Everbright Insurance from Canada, one of the world's Fortune 500 companies, established a foothold in Tianjin in 2002 by forming northern China's first Sino-foreign life insurance joint venture. In 2005, the Huaxia Bank, Minsheng Banking Corporation and Bohai Property Insurance also opened for business.

Urban Improvement Projects
2007 is an important year for pushing forward the development and opening of the Binhai New Area. The city will also begin building the necessary infrastructure for a new 2.6 square kilometer incubation zone dubbed the International Bio-medicine Innovation Park together with the Ministry of Science and Technology. Construction of an ethylene plant, Airbus A320 assembly plant and the Beijing Power Plant shall break ground and the Binhai New Area will begin to take shape as a model for ecological city construction.

Government Efficiency
As one of the earliest port cities in China, Tianjin has been in a leading position in terms of attractive foreign investment policy and government services. According to a 2004 Tianjin Foreign Investment Environment Report conducted by Beijing-based Horizon Research Consultancy Group, among the most positive and important policy and government service indicators for Tianjin, was the city's friendly and warm atmosphere towards foreign investors and foreign enterprises. Tianjin seeks to continue improving policies and regulations to reduce tax burdens for foreign enterprises and safeguard personal and intellectual property.

According to a Survey of the Investment Environment among 120 Cities by the World Bank in 2006, Tianjin ranked 19th for Investment Climate for Foreign Firms and ranked 29th on the effectiveness of government in dealing with foreign companies.