Beijing's CBD is becoming a world leader: white paper

What do you think are the most promising industries for developing the central business district (CBD) of the future?

According to a newly-released white paper focusing on global CBD attractiveness, the three top-ranked industries are financial services, professional services and science and technology. The document was recently unveiled at the Agenda for 2020 Beijing CBD Forum, held at the Asian Financial Center in Olympic Park in Beijing.

Themed "Pursuing greater synergy of international elements toward a world-leading CBD", the Agenda for 2020 Beijing CBD Forum attracted dozens of guests from various fields, including politics, business and academia.

Thierry Delmarcelle, chief strategy and innovation officer at Deloitte Asia Pacific, released the white paper and gave a keynote speech highlighting its main points.

"The sudden outbreak of COVID-19 is reshaping the world economy, reshaping the trading environment, reshaping society and reshaping ways of working and living," he said.

Delmarcelle noted that the paper predicts the world economy will recover slowly and discussed China's economy using a double circulation model."With the CBD eco-sphere 2.0, we believe that Beijing's CBD has an opportunity to become one of the top CBDs in the world," added Thierry Delmarcelle at the forum.

Aude Laurent, head of corporate relations and international relations at Paris La Defense, made a cloud speech, speaking highly of the rapid development of CBD in Beijing over the past year.

At the forum, Mohammed Ali Al Shorafa Al Hammadi, chairman of the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development, talked about building world-class CBDs, citing Abu Dhabi’s experience.

In the first half of the year, the tax revenue in Beijing's CBD exceeded 60 billion yuan ($8.8 billion). Among the area's various industries, the tertiary industry accounted for 60 percent of the tax revenue – a good reflection of the CBD’s high-quality development.

"We will make every effort to build a world-class business center and make Beijing an open place to the outside world," said a local official from the Beijing CBD Management Committee.