The city of Beijing, once known as Peking is the capital and administrative centre of the People's Republic of China and is located in the northeast of the country. Although a number of China's regions have degrees of autonomy, ultimately Beijing controls of two billion people (CIA World Factbook estimate for July 2007) throughout China. Figures published by the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau in 2005 indicated that 15.244 million people are resident in the Beijing Municipality.

There have been cities in the region close to Beijing for nearly 3000 years and during that time the area has been under the rule of foreign forces more than once, the most recent being the Japanese occupation between 1937 and 1945. The modern city of Beijing as visitors see it today, began after the Chinese Civil War in 1949, when the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference decided Beijing would be the new capital. However it was not until the economic reforms of Deng Xiaoping that Beijing started to grow to its present proportions.

Economy
In the past 50 years Beijing's economy has changed dramatically. Prior to the 1950's the city's primary functions were cultural and administrative, since then however the services and manufacturing industry have become the main contributors to the economy of Beijing and its surrounding region. The reforms brought about by Deng Xiaoping in 1978 were important to Beijing and China as a whole effectively allowing China to compete openly on the World stage.

Surrounding the city there are in the region of 15 development zones dealing with industry and technology with foreign companies such as Citizen, Sony Ericsson, JVC and Matsushita represented. There is also a considerable number of foreign bank and financial companies operating within Beijing.

The economy of Beijing is increasingly embracing the IT sector. An example of this was the acquisition by the Chinese computer company Lenovo of the IBM Personal Computing Division in 2005. Lenovo continue to improve upon and produce IBM's successful Thinkpad range of laptop computers which has for many years seen service on the Space Shuttle and Soyuz missions.

Over the past few decades China has become more open a welcoming to foreign travellers making Tourism another growth area for Beijing. The Summer Palace, which is a Unesco World Heritage Site, the Great Wall of China a short journey to north and to the south in Fangshanxian County the discovery site of Peking Man also both World Heritage Site are some of the regions main attractions. In the centre of Beijing is the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square which draw tourists from around the globe; however Tiananmen Square is remembered more by foreigners for the events of 1989.

Infrastructure
Beijing Capital International Airport is the capitals main link to the rest of the world and a major hub for domestic flights and is situated around 20 kilometres northeast of downtown Beijing. According to Geneva based Airports Council International (ACI), in 2006 the airport dealt with over 48 million passengers and over 1 million metric tonnes of cargo. Originally opened in early 1958, the airport in the early 1980's saw its first major expansion, however by the mid 1990's further expansion was needed. The airport is currently being readied for the 2008 Beijing Olympics with a new terminal opened in 2004, the last phase of which was designed by the renowned British architect Norman Foster.

Beijing's first subway line was first opened in the late 1960's and has seen the addition of two further lines with more under construction; more lines are also planned with completion expected by 2015. At the moment the subway is one of the best ways to get around the city. Beijing is also served by a high number of bus routes.

In early 2006 the Beijing to Shanghai high speed Bullet Train was finally approved in principal nearly 16 years after the first feasibility studies were conducted. Completion is due by 2010. When in service the duration of the journey will be reduced from 14 hours to 5 hours.

Workforce
The labour force of Beijing is around 7 million. The build up to the 2008 Olympics saw a large influx of workers into Beijing, but as building projects are completed the need for labourers reduces, it may take some years before the exact figure stabilises. Education is seen as one of the key factors in the growth of Beijing, as such the city and region has a large number of universities and colleges, providing Beijing with a highly educated and skilled workforce.

Standard of Living
The quality of life in Beijing for foreigners can, for the most part be on par with what they would expect in their home country, but for migrant workers from other parts of China life can be tough. Often migrant workers can work long, arduous hours to earn in a year what in some western countries is an average weekly wage.

Although not as shielded from the eyes of the world as it was even a few decades ago, Beijing's control of China still has some hangovers from the height of Communism. The non-profit organisation Reporters Without Borders reported, "In 2006, there were at least 25 incidents of arrests, threats or assaults against members of the foreign press".

The Mercer Human Resource Cost of Living Survey 2007 ranks Beijing in 20th position out of 144 cities world wide, with a score of 95.9. New York is the median for the index, in 15th place (100) Moscow is in 1st place (134.4). Surprisingly the cost of living went down from the previous years survey, in 2006 Beijing was in 14th place.

Business Costs
According to the real estate advisory company CB Richard Ellis in 2005, prime office rent in Beijing was US$371 per square metre per annum, comparing favourably with its Chinese and Asian counterparts. The occupancy cost in Hong Kong was US$816, Mumbai US$607 and Tokyo (Inner Central) US$1411.