XIAMEN, Fujian - The China International Fair for Investment and Trade (CIFIT), which closed on Sunday, has significantly driven international investment flows over the past 15 years, said the head of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO).

"CIFIT has now become a major part of China's global economic strategy," said Kandeh K. Yumkella, director-general of the UNIDO, a key sponsor of the CIFIT.

Yumkella said the fair has grown in importance since he first attended five years ago.

Diverse, high-profile forums demonstrate the fair's strength and show the world's thirst for China's overseas direct investment (ODI) and countries' desire to boost trade with the Asia's economic power, said Yumkella, who attended the high-level Sino-African investment forum and an international investment forum held concurrently with CIFIT in Xiamen.

"I see major changes in the forums, with many countries looking for outward investment from China to their own countries, and also looking at China as an important trading partner."

Yumkella said he believed China's 10-year membership of the WTO "has been fantastic" and China's significant ODI growth is "transforming countries" enabling them to "fight poverty and create wealth".

According to the organizers, delegations attending CIFIT signed 493 investment projects worth $21.45 billion this year showing the growing importance of the investment platform. Over the fair's 14 previous years, more than 14,300 investment projects worth about $100 billion were signed.

Shen Jingting contributed to this story.