Old Place Seafood, a Chinese restaurant that cost $4 million, has opened in Phnom Penh.

A representative of the restaurant, which is opposite the Chinese embassy, said the growing number of Chinese people in the Kingdom had justified such an investment.

“We have an increasing number of Chinese tourists and Chinese investors in Cambodia every year,” Ye Yunhui, the restaurant’s chef, said.

“We aim to make it a famous restaurant in this country.”

Ye said there were more than 200 dishes on the menu and the restaurant employed 250 people.

Luu Meng, president of the Cambodia Hotel Association, said the investment was a smart move and showed the industry was healthy.

He said his own three restaurants were growing strongly.

“I believe [the owners of the new restaurant] did a careful study before coming to this market, so I think they’ve found the potential in this industry.”

Independent economist Vong Samang told the Post last month the hotel and restaurant industry was closely linked to the attraction of foreign direct investment.

Wherever investors went, they needed features common to their culture, he said.

“If there’s a boost in Chinese restaurants and hotels in Cambodia, it means there has been a jump in Chinese investors.”

Cambodia had 330,000 Chinese tourists last year, and China was the second-largest investor in the Kingdom.