China International Fair for Investment and Trade (CIFIT), the largest trade and investment fair in China, has the potential to become one of the world's most important platforms for cross border investment, a senior official from the World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies (WAIPA) said.

"CIFIT is a unique event that facilitates bilateral and multilateral trade activities with countries from around the world," said Eddie Chen, senior advisor to the president of WAIPA and chief representative of the Invest in Sweden Agency China.

At the 10th CIFIT, which concluded yesterday, 1,068 investment deals were signed, with a total investment of US$21.66 billion. Foreign investment totaled US$15.08 billion.

The event attracted 383 overseas delegations from governments, industrial associations and international organizations from around 80 countries and regions.

WAIPA, established in 1995, currently has 192 member agencies from 149 countries and is the most representative international organization for investment promotion agencies and foreign direct investment.

It now acts as a forum for investment promotion agencies, providing networking opportunities and facilitating the exchange of best practices in investment promotion.

"And as one of the largest foreign investment destinations, China's experience in improving investment environments is valuable for other countries," said Chen, adding that WAIPA has worked with the Chinese Government to promote experience exchanges between China and other countries. China has been one of the hot spots for foreign investment in the past few years.

With its booming economy and ever-improving infrastructure, the nation had attracted more than US$600 billion in foreign direct investment by the end of 2005.

In 2003, Invest in Sweden Agency, a top investment promotion agency and a key member of WAIPA, arranged a number of WAIPA-related activities in China.

Together with the Ministry of Commerce, the agency organized WAIPA activities at last year's CIFIT. In 2003, the two bodies also co-hosted the China International Investment Promotion Forum in Beijing in 2003 and in Tianjin in 2004, and the latest forum, held in Chengdu this year. In July, WAIPA also arranged a workshop for Latin American Investment Promotion Agencies in Beijing.

WAIPA is now jointly holding the Workshop for Asian Investment Promotion Agencies in China. The workshop is designed to strengthen cooperation between Chinese and Asian investment promotion agencies and facilitate Sino-Asian investment cooperation.

"Such exchanges and co-operation are important for trade promotion agencies across the world, as the pattern of foreign investment has been evolving over the years," said Chen.

Labor-intensive industries such as textiles and clothing used to be the main Chinese industries to draw foreign direct investment. But, the services sector is now attracting a larger proportion of foreign funds.

(China Daily September 12, 2006)