China had approved the establishment of 525,738 foreign invested enterprises and actually utilized 58.44 billion US dollars of overseas investment by the end of May, 2005, according to a senior official with the Ministry of Commerce.

Gu Jie, deputy director in charge of the investment promotion affairs with the Ministry of Commerce, made the remarks at the 9th China International Fair for Investment & Trade Promotional Symposium in Hong Kong on Wednesday.

He said among the world's top 500 transnational corporations, over 400 have invested and over 30 have established regional head offices in China, and 600 foreign-funded research and development institutions have been established in China.

Gu Jie said, since China began the opening-up drive in the late 1970s, it has been actively introducing overseas investment for economic development. The volume of investment in fixed assets of overseas-funded ventures accounted for one twelfth of the nation's overall number in 2004.

Gu added that the export value of the overseas funded ventures in China accounts for 57 percent of the nation's total.

The official said, China also encourages ventures to "go abroad. " By the end of last year, Chinese enterprises (not including financial enterprises) had invested 36.8 billion US dollars in overseas countries and regions.

He said the Ministry of Commerce will host the 9th China International Fair for Investment and Trade in Xiamen city of east China's Fujian Province.

He said the fair is expected to be a platform for international trade promotion activities between China and other countries and regions.

Gu Jie said, during the past eight fairs, 15,566 contracts were signed with 94.3 billion US dollars of contracted overseas investment.

Source: Xinhua