Last year, Southwest China's Sichuan province introduced a total of RMB 109.64 billion last year in foreign investment capital, setting a new record for investment. At present, the number of the world's top 500 enterprises with representative offices in Sichuan has reached 125, with the number actual investing over 75. This information was released at the Sichuan Provincial Work Conference on Investment Promotion yesterday.

Currently, ten key industries have been selected to attract overseas investment: the agriculture and agricultural product processing industry, the heavy-machinery industry, the electronic information industry, the modern logistics industry, the environmental protection industry, the medicine and chemical industry, the mining and non-metallic mineral product industry, the automobile and components industry, the financial industry and the cultural industry.

In accordance with industrial investment promotion, the means to attract foreign investment will be changed to highlight professional investment promotion. In addition to this new models to attract investors will be put into use, including attracting foreign investment in technology parks or through intermediaries or without involving wide ranges of land.

In addition to attracting investment from overseas, various industries which are expected to develop targeting at specific overseas markets. It has been reported that this year the electronic information industry will look to seize the North American market, the machine-manufacturing industry to expand to the European market, the intensive processing industry of agricultural sideline products to the ASEAN market and the software industry and the heavy-machinery industry to the South Asian market. During the upcoming Westlake Exposition, the Sichuan provincial government will host the "Second Sino-America Cooperation Fair (2007)" to promote American enterprises entering Sichuan.

Reports state that there will be a number of the world's top 500 and domestic top 500 enterprises ready to settle in Sichuan in the near future. For example, the Goldman Sachs Asia Company is reportedly seeking a cooperative project with production-industrial enterprises; Foxcoon is looking to establish a cyber park in Chengdu's Houwu Area; and Zurich Financial Services is to set up a project in Sichuan.