Giant investment and trade fair throws international spotlight on Fujian province

East China's Fujian province, a top investment destination for international companies operating in a number of sectors, is coming under the global spotlight - with a grand investment and trade fair being staged in the port city of Xiamen from Saturday to Tuesday.

The annual China International Fair for Investment and Trade, CIFIT, which was first held in 1987, is now the only international event in the country that focuses on the promotion of international investment and has grown into an important platform for Chinese companies to go global after years of development, said Wang Shouwen, vice-minister of commerce and China's deputy international trade representative.

The leading event has given a strong impetus to China's utilization of foreign capital and also significantly boosted its overseas investment, Wang added.

According to the World Investment Report 2017, released at the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, China remained a favorite destination for foreign direct investment in 2016 and became the second largest investing country in the world.

From January to July in the current year, China added 35,000 foreign-funded companies, an increase of 99 percent year-on-year, and its utilized foreign capital reached 496.71 billion yuan ($72.64 billion), up 2.3 percent year-on-year.

China's outbound nonfinancial direct investment rose 18.7 percent to $57.18 billion in the first six months, benefiting 3,617 companies in 151 countries and regions.

The ongoing investment and trade fair attracts about 5,000 companies and more than 800 groups of merchants from 110 countries and regions, with total exhibition areas reaching 130,000 square meters.

The Czech Republic, as this year's guest country of honor, occupies a 500-sq-m pavilion to advance its efforts to seek out business opportunities.

One of the highlights is a 2,000-sq-m pavilion built exclusively for countries involved in the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road. More than 20 such countries and regions, including the 10 member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, are promoting the attractions of their industrial advantages and business environment there.

The Belt and Road Initiative, proposed in 2013, has seen fruitful results in cooperation over the years, said Zheng Xincong, vice-governor of Fujian.

The province, as a core area of the 21st Century Maritime Silk Road, has planned a series of activities during the fair to introduce its major achievements made in economy and trade, marine collaboration and cultural exchanges when constructing the maritime silk road, and to promote a batch of projects to related countries and regions.

More than 80 conferences, forums and report releases will take place during the four-day event.

The World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies will host its World Investment Conference on Sunday, which is expected to attract investment promotion institutes from nearly 100 countries and regions.

This is the first time that WAIPA has located the event in China since its establishment 23 years ago.

Eight reports will be released at the fair, covering such areas as China's e-commerce, cross-Straits cold chain logistics cooperation, foreign investment in China and commercial real estate investment and promotion.

More than 150 project matchmaking activities will also be organized and divided into four categories: key industries, key areas, hot topics and Chinese companies going abroad. Over 2,000 project agreements are expected to be reached on site.

In addition to attracting investment for traditional industries, this year's fair also sets up exhibition areas for emerging industries and individual media business sectors to seek investors.

Emerging industries have attracted nearly 100 companies and investment agencies, including JD and ZongMu Technology, covering sectors including new materials, artificial intelligence, smart transportation, energy conservation, environmental protection and new retail.

The latter has attracted dozens of individual media outlets and investment institutions, organizers said.

They include Newrank, Hylink, Perfect World and Tsing Capital - covering such fields as social media, short video portals, newspapers, television broadcasting and radio stations.