Newsmaker

US companies set to invest at least $2 billion

By Ben Yue (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-09-09 11:37

XIAMEN, Fujian - Members of the American Chamber of Commerce in South China (AmCham South China) are likely to invest at least $2 billion through the China International Fair for Investment and Trade (CIFIT), which opened on Wednesday.

Harley Seyedin, president of AmCham South China, said CIFIT is "the best platform for foreign investment" and every year, its final deal is about 50 percent higher than expectation.

High-technique manufacturing, machinery, construction, foodstuffs, testing, human resource consulting, legal services, financial services and green energy technology are their major target industries.

Harley Seyedin, president of American Chamber of Commerce South China

This year, AmCham South China represents 150 US companies in China and 60 companies from the states of Maryland, California and Georgia, including many big names that are planning to increase their investments in China.

For example, Seyedin said, Mead Johnson & Company is building a research center in China for baby formula; Harley-Davidson is talking to the Fujian government on production details; Air Products and Chemical Inc will expand; and Sithe Global, where Seyedin comes from, is talking about a $500 million program on tidal power generation, packaged with wind power and solar energy programs.

"Our member companies, who have operated in China for more than two years, have seen a profit," Seyedin said, adding that 44 percent of these companies are reinvesting in China.

He said high-technology industries are considered the fastest growing for investment and 72 percent of AmCham South China members have shown interest in this field.

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Guangdong, Fujian, Sichuan and Hainan have become the most profitable provinces, he said, while member companies are also keeping their eyes on markets in China's west and north.

An AmCham South China survey of 405 companies shows that 89 percent have made some investments in China. The number of companies which invested between $10 million and $250 million last year are seeing growth.

About 90.2 percent of the companies said the business environment in South China is good, the highest since 2007.

At CIFIT, AmCham South China will host a roundtable on IP, innovation and cooperation, and co-host a US-China Enterprises Investment Cooperation Forum on Low Carbon Technology with the US Consulate-General in Guangzhou, the Investment Promotion Agency of the Ministry of Commerce and Xiamen Foreign Investment Bureau.