According to a survey conducted by the Ministry of Commerce among the world's top 1,000 enterprises, as listed by BusinessWeek, 82 percent of them want to increase their investment in China in the following three years.

Future investment will focus on three areas: basic industry, marketing and after-sales service, and technology transfer, said the ministry.

61 percent of companies confirmed that they will increase investment in research and development (R&D). Development of non-core technology (e.g. manufacturing or processing plant) and the acquisition of R&D institutes are the major investment directions.

57 percent of them said they preferred solely foreign-owned investment both in industrial investment and R&D, whilst 46 percent preferred to establish solely foreign-owned R&D centers.

Jin, an official from the Ministry of Commerce, said this was due to a desire for independent management and concerns over IPR protection.

In recent years, China has become a magnet for foreign investment. Foreign direct investment to the mainland increased by nearly 13 percent to US$60.6 billion last year, according to the ministry.

(Beijing Times, translated by Yuan Fang for China.org.cn, January 21, 2005)