With over 700 research and development centers of multinationals in China, the country still finds itself on a long journey to become the "optimal choice" for overseas investors.

Statistics with the Ministry of Commerce show that multinationals have set up more than 700 research and development centers in China, with 298 set up in the Jan-Sept period last year,up 48.2 percent from a year prior.

A survey provided by the Ministry also states that these research and development centers are mainly in the fields of information communication, bio-pharmacy, and transportation manufacturing industry, and located in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong and Jiangsu.

More than 60 percent of multinationals say they will infuse more research and development funds into China in the coming three years, which is just part of their global strategy to increase their competitiveness, says professor Liu Gang with the Tianjin-based Nankai University.

He made the above remarks at a forum on China's reform and sustainable development. Liu Gang noted that many multinationals choose to hold 100 percent of their research and development centers in China as way to keep their own core technology.

Zhang Jinan, an official with the Ministry of Science and Technology, acknowledged that Chinese enterprises should improve the capability of originality, and closely cooperate with multinationals.

Source: Xinhua