WIRRAL Council’s investment website is to be translated into Chinese – in a bid to capitalise on potential investors from the Far East.

The move follows a sharp increase in the number of “hits” on the council’s website from China, as well as other countries, in the wake of publicity about the £4.5bn Peel plans for Wirral Waters development in Birkenhead dockland.

The revamp of the council’s investment website comes after experts in the authority had noticed significant spikes in people from the Far East visiting the website whenever any major news about the Peel plans hit the headlines.

As the council’s inward investment website nears a total of 6m hits, the local authority is now putting the finishing touches to the revamp of the site aimed at maintaining its position as one of the country’s best. Cllr Phil Davies, cabinet member for regeneration and planning strategy, said: “International links have already been developed with China and Korea, and, because of that, the new website will feature a Chinese language homepage to maximise our links with Asia.

“We will also continue to strongly promote our excellent schools, skills, connectivity and international golf offer.

“We are determined to do all we can to show the world that Wirral has a lot to offer as an inward investment location.”

The www.investwirral.com website was originally launched in the summer of 2007, and, in the time since, Wirral has seen Peel Holdings’ vision for the Wirral Waters site gain full outline planning permission and be awarded Enterprise Zone status by the Government.

The visitor numbers to the website and the countries they come from reflect the international interest in Wirral, with the US accounting for the most hits on the site, followed by the UK in second and Norway, China and Japan completing the top five.