The London Daily News

It seems Mayor Boris Johnson's gamble on taking a slimmed down entourage to the Beijing games has pulled off.

Nearly 100 Chinese companies are now considering opening offices in London after Johnson's trade mission at last years Olympics.

Predecessor Ken Livingstone had organised an extravagant team flying first class and even sending a double decker bus 9,000 miles at a cost of half a million pounds.

Johnson scrapped the bus and told City Hall staff if they wanted to go as an official member of the Greater London Authority they had to prove their worth.

The austerity approach is now reaping benefits after companies said they were lured by the prospect of doing business in the capital ahead of the 2012 Games.

Banks and technology companies

Nine firms are already working with Think London — the Mayor's overseas investment agency — to set up offices within the next 12 months.

The companies include VanceInfo Technologies, a provider of IT outsourcing services; Alibaba.com, the world's largest online business-to-business market place; China Merchants Bank and Insigma, another Chinese IT outsourcing group.

2012 investors

The Mayor's representatives and the London Development Agency are seeking investors for the 500-acre Olympic Park

Earlier this month the Mayor received a business delegation at the Chinese Embassy in London, including construction minister Chen Gang.