NEW YORK - New York City is courting Chinese firms that want to increase their presence in the US now that the economy has begun to recover.

A group of Chinese business leaders got a real estate tour of office buildings including the Empire State Building on Wednesday.

They are in New York for a weeklong networking program run by the city's Economic Development Corp.

Gregory Kraut of the brokerage firm CB Richard Ellis told The Wall Street Journal that Chinese firms have been looking to set up shop in New York.

Chinese businesses that have opened New York offices recently include the apparel company Li & Wang and several banks and investment firms.