Beijing has been ranked as the leading domestic source of investment in southwestern China's Sichuan Province since 2001, officials with Sichuan Provincial Investment Promotion Bureau said Wednesday.

Investors from Beijing have invested a total of 16.6 billion yuan (2 billion US dollars) in Sichuan Province, southwestern China, from 2001 until the end of June of this year. The figure isone fifth of the region's total domestic investment.

Jiang Jufeng, deputy governor of Sichuan, said Beijing is likely to maintain its position as dozens of investors from Beijing signed investment and trade agreements worth 33 billion yuan (about 4 billion US dollars) with business partners from Sichuan.

The agreements involve energy, electronic information, Chinese herbal medicine, processing, manufacturing, tourism and infrastructure.

A number of major Beijing-based companies invested in the province include China Huaneng Group, an electric giant, Huiyuan Group Co., a fruit juice producer, Beijing Hualian Group, a retailer, and Beijing Sinosoft Group.

Huiyuan Group has invested 350 million yuan (42.2 million US dollars) in a juice production project in Chengdu Economic Development Zone in the capital of the province, which is now operational. Beijing Sinosoft Group established a cable plant in the province with a total investment of 200 million yuan (24 million dollars).

Friendly commercial ties between two regions began in the 1960s,when Sichuan provided farm produce, which was in short supply for Beijing.

Sichuan, known as an affluent area since ancient time, has a population of 87 million, making it the 3rd most populous region in the country.

Source: Xinhua