Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province used 412 million US dollars in foreign funds in the first 10months this year, a rise of 120 percent year on year, the latest statistics have shown.

The city approved 112 foreign-funded enterprises in the first 10 months, involving a total investment 1.269 billion US dollars and a contractual foreign investment of 808 million US dollars, according to the Ministry of Commerce.

Foreign funds mainly flew to the sectors of industrial goods, agriculture, catering and real estate.

Xi'an had approved an accumulated 2,860 foreign-financed firms by the end of October, involving 6.755 billion US dollars of contractual foreign investment. The city has used 2.965 billion US dollars of foreign funds. Investors come from 56 countries and regions, including 30 of the world's top 500 multinational corporations.

China launched a strategy to develop its vast western region five years ago to narrow the development gap between the east and west regions. With the improvement of the local investment environment, west China is being favored by an increaseing number of foreign investors.

In the first 10 months of the year, three foreign-funded agricultural projects in Xi'an saw additional investment.

BHO-Billiton, the leading global mining firm, based in Australia; Carrefour, the world's second largest retailer; Veolia, the global leading water affairs firm; and world's leading retailer Wal-Mart have traveled to Lanzhou, capital of northwest China's Gansu Province, in search of business opportunities, according to local government sources.

Source: Xinhua