For 16 years, China has been the biggest recipient of foreign direct investment. Now, its outbound investment is starting to catch up.

At the ongoing trade and investment fair in Xiamen, Fujian province, developed countries like the United States and Australia are falling over each other trying to find local investors.

"We are all very short of money," a US businesswoman said at the Xiamen trade fair.

An increasing number of local businesses are starting to look for bigger markets beyond China. Li Yongqi, the owner of an electric bicycle factory in Shijiazhuang, Hebei province, said he wants to set up a similar plant in Illinois, where there's high demand for his bicycles.

Chinese businesses invested over US$18.6 billion overseas last year, while total outbound investment from China was just US$2.5 billion in 2002, according to commerce ministry statistics.

In the first half of this year, China invested US$25.66 billion in other countries in the financial sector, up 229 percent on the same period last year.

"Outbound investment by Chinese businesses has entered a faster stage of development," Liu Yajun, director of the commerce ministry's investment promotion agency, said. The country's outbound investment will increase at a much faster rate, and on a larger scale, he said.

The government supports businesses wanting to invest in other countries, as more local companies seek opportunities to expand in foreign markets, Liu said.

But many local businesses lack experience outside China and are unfamiliar with the business environments of other countries, he said.

The agency released five investment reports Tuesday to educate local investors on the business environments of five countries including Canada and Peru.

The commerce ministry is also working on a series of reports on investing overseas. They cover investment opportunities, tax policies, investment risk and macroeconomic information. The ministry has already released reports on over 20 nations.

(China Daily September 10, 2008)