Nations Pin Hope on Chinese Investors amid Faltering Recovery

XIAMEN, Sept. 7 (Xinhua) -- As fears of a double-dip recession looms large amid the worsening debt crisis in the world's major economies, many nations look to the deep pockets of Chinese investors to boost their fragile growth.

At the international convention center in the southeastern coastal city of Xiamen, where the 15th China International Fair for Investment and Trade (CIFIT) opened Wednesday, foreign governments and companies are vying to showcase their advantages to appeal to Chinese investors.

Andrzej Pieczonka, consul for economic affairs of Poland's embassy in China, said the Polish delegation is willing to discuss cooperative opportunities with China in the areas of high-tech, environmental protection, electronics and information, renewable energy, auto making and bio-tech development.

Rimantas Zylius, Lithuania's economy minister, said Lithuania has seen big opportunities in its bilateral ties with China in transportation, tourism and trade. Over the past 14 years, China's investment in Lithuania increased five fold.

Minister of Commerce Chen Deming said at the opening ceremony that nations must strengthen cooperation for promoting cross-border investment to generate strong, sustainable and balanced growth amid new uncertainties in the global recovery.

The impact of the global financial crisis continues to deepen, and unstable factors have cropped up amid the ongoing global economic recovery. Trans-border investment is an effective way to boost growth, he said.

According to a report released Tuesday by the Ministry of Commerce, China's outbound direct investment (ODI) surged 21.7 percent year-on-year to 68.81 billion U.S. dollars in 2010, growing for the ninth straight year.

Last year's ODI accounted for 5.2 percent of global capital flow and exceeded the ODI of both Japan and the United Kingdom for the first time to become the fifth largest in the world, said Shen Danyang, spokesman for the ministry.

China's ODI in the European Union (EU) surged 280 percent year-on-year in 2009. It more than doubled to reach 5.96 billion U.S. dollars last year, Shen said.

At the opening ceremony, Chen said CIFIT has become a popular platform and played an important role in promoting trade and investment between Chinese and overseas businesses.

Covering an area of 65,000 square meters, this year's fair has a total of 3,200 international-standard booths and has attracted groups from 108 countries and regions, 10 international organizations and 636 overseas organizations.

Top Chinese legislator Wu Bangguo attended the fair's opening ceremony Wednesday.

With 15 years' development, CIFIT has developed into one of the largest investment promotion platforms around the world. Statistics show that 100,000 overseas business people from nearly 150 countries and regions have participated in the fair.

A host of bilateral and multi-lateral economic promotion activities will be held at this year's event, such as the 2011 International Investment Forum, the Sino-European Investment Cooperation Project Matchmaking Fair, and the 6th Summit for Asian Investment Fund.