中国企业呼吁进一步扩大海外投资

The forum on overseas investments gathered hundreds of delegates from China's business circle and officials from both China and abroad.

The conference was organized by the China Industrial Overseas Development and Planning Association, a quasi-official organization with an aim to promote China's overseas investments.

Zhang Guobao, chairman of the association, said Chinese emprises still have room to increase their overseas investments after a rapid global expansion in recent years.

"In recent years, China's overseas investment has been on the increase. But the country, being the second largest economy in the world, is ranked only 13th in terms of the value of overseas investment. So I think Chinese enterprises still have great potential to further expand their overseas investments."

The China Industrial Overseas Development and Planning Association was established in 2004 to provide counseling service to enterprises which have invested or plan to invest overseas.

The association is under the direct guidance of the National Development and Reform Commission, China's top economic planning agency.

Figures from the association show that over 13-thousand Chinese enterprises have engaged in foreign direct investment in some 170 countries and regions as of the end of last year. The total value of those investments stood at more than 420 billion US dollars.

Andrzej Juchniewicz is the director of the China Representative Office of Poland's Information and Foreign Investment Agency.

The Polish official, in fluent Mandarin Chinese, says his country welcomes more Chinese enterprises to do business in the central European nation.

"At present, a total of 140 Chinese enterprises have set up factories or offices in Poland. Their direct investment amounts to 250 million euros. These enterprises include electronics, electrical appliances, auto parts and machinery manufacturing. Looking to the future, we expect Chinese enterprises from the sectors of R&D outsourcing and aviation to invest in Poland."

Meanwhile, as part of the investment forum, China Radio International signed an agreement with the China Industrial Overseas Development and Planning Association.

Under the agreement, CRI will work with the association to provide international news and communication services to Chinese enterprises investing overseas.

Chinese enterprises started to launch overseas investments only about a decade ago.

For CRI, I'm Nate Schlabach.