Beijing ranks 24th on a list of 30 major global cities when it comes to the ease of  doing business. But Beijing is slowly catching up as it has made significant improvements in intellectual capital and innovation. Beijing is actually ahead of almost every other emerging city, largely due to its strength in higher education. Laura Luo talked to two expatriates to find out what it's really like to do business in China's capital city.

Alexis Bonhomme is from Paris. He has lived in Beijing for five years, and runs his own digital communication firm. His first observance of the Chinese market, is its fast pace.

He said, "The Chinese market is very different and sophisticated, it's changing in terms of days."

But business operation costs are among the highest.

"It's costly. From taxation, you pay taxes on the staff level, and business level, but at the end of the day, it's roughly the same as in the west. "

What, then, is so good about setting up a business here?

He said, "Beijing today is very different than five years ago, pace of change is very quick, as the capital, it attracts the best talents from all China."

"Beijing not only has the largest talent pool, it also attracts foreign students. I'm at Tsqinghua University, one of China's top academic institutions to talk with an Aussie Ph.D student." Laura Luo said.

Ph.D student Kate Smith from school of environment of Tsinghua University has wrapped her five-year China experience all into one book. She said, "My friend rang me up and said I want you to write a book about your China experience."

Smith says China's rapidly rising internet finance sector was a main contributor to the success in marketing her book.

"On Wechat publicizing the book is really easy, and the cost is lower than in Australia. "

China's advancing technologies boost Beijing's profile as a global city. A recent report also shows that China's capital city is already ahead of most emerging cities in terms of technology facilities, intellectual capital, and innovation.