BEIJING, Feb. 15 -- Think London, the city's foreign direct investment agency, announced yesterday that it has opened a service center called Touchdown London tailored to Chinese enterprises that want to start businesses in the United Kingdom or Europe.

The initiative teams with Avanta, a UK provider of professional serviced offices, to encourage Chinese investment on the island nation and beyond.

Touchdown London offers Chinese businesses "soft landing" services, the agency said, including free office furnishings for three months and office rents at a 25 percent discount.

Representatives of Chinese companies will be helped by a Chinese-speaking manager from the service center at the inception of their business. The manager will also provide a range of Think London assistance, introducing them to experts or professionals who can advise the new companies in each phase of their businesses.

"London has contributed a great deal in attracting Chinese businesses to come to invest in Europe, and is now the gateway for them to expand in Europe and even beyond," said Michael Charlton, chief executive officer of Think London.

"As it is an unavoidable trend that more and more Chinese enterprises are looking to globalization, so it is essential that we strengthen relations with them, building London into the best and the most popular destination for Chinese companies."

The UK currently tops the list in attracting Chinese overseas direct investment (ODI) around Europe, with London attracting nearly one-third of the capital and accounting for 15 percent of the value of Chinese ODI in the EU, according to Think London.

And China's ODI growth is expected to continue in the coming years after annual growth rates of as much as 100 percent in recent years. The total reached $16.1 billion last year.

According to the Economist Intelligence Unit's recent report on 2006 World Investment Prospects, investment from China is predicted to increase by 25 percent to $70.1 billion by 2010, which corresponds to estimates from the Chinese government, which has set a target of $70 billion to $100 billion.

Think London established its first overseas office outside the UK in Beijing last April. It has since opened offices in the US and India. The agency has assisted 41 Chinese companies ranging from conglomerates to smaller enterprises, including China Telecom, China National Offshore Oil Corporation and Shanghai General Electric.