Chengdu's efficient local government and the city's qualified workers are attracting top international companies to Tianfu New Area.

In October 2009, global ocean transport giant Maersk Group, a Fortune 500 company, signed a contract with the district to establish a branch, only three months after a delegation from the company visited Chengdu.

In March last year, Maersk Global Service Centers Chengdu (GSC Chengdu) opened in Tianfu Software Park along with Maersk's logistics division Damco.

It is now Damco's largest office in the world.

The two companies now have nearly 2,000 employees and the number is still rising.

"I see new faces every week," said Chris McGeoch, director of GSC Chengdu. "The fast pace of development here is beyond our expectations."

He said his company has chosen Chengdu not because of preferential policies — many other cities actually offered better terms — but because of high efficiency of the government and professional services.

Nearly all the employees are locals. "They are quick learners and firm implementers," said the director.

Maersk's CEO Nils Smedegaard Anderse said the Chengdu office is "of great importance to the group".

"From choosing the place to starting business, we spent only six months," he said. "Such a quick speed is seen nowhere else in China."

DHL, another worldwide logistics provider, was also attracted to Chengdu, although the city is not coastal.

It works because "more of the business is done on the Internet in Chengdu", explained McGeoch.