Foreign multinationals including construction giant Caterpillar Inc. and engine producer Cummins assured China's quake-ravaged Sichuan Province of their confidence in investment during post-quake investment promotions this week.

A total of 60 foreign multinationals co-issued a statement saying foreign investors' could have confidence in the reconstruction and in business development in resource-rich Sichuan, after their representatives completed a trip organized by the provincial government to visit the quake zone on Thursday.

"We know that the earthquake has not caused heavy losses in the vast Chengdu plain. The investment environment of the provincial capital has remained intact," said MC Chan, Caterpillar China regional director.

Chan and many other business leaders endorsed a joint proposal to make Sichuan an investment priority in their China investment plan.

The government-sponsored trip and investment activities helped clinch US$3.5 billion of contractual investment, including US$1.85 billion signed by foreign companies.

"I see the vitality and hope of Sichuan from the two-day trip," said Ernst Coppens, head of Financial Department from the Country Group Greater China Bayer, who said he has been convinced to invest in a production expansion project in Sichuan.

On Thursday, the world's largest restaurant brand operator Yum! Brands Inc. signed a 70 million-yuan (about US$10 million) deal to open four Pizza Hut restaurants, a KFC outlet and two KFC drive-through ventures in Sichuan.

"One of the Pizza Huts was planned for Mianyang City, one of the worst hit in the devastating earthquake. Its significance is that it will bolster market confidence in the disaster area," said Huang Jian, a regional marketing manager of Yum! China Division.

These new restaurants will help create 800 jobs in Sichuan. Quake survivors in Wenchuan, Beichuan and Qingchuan counties, which suffered most in the earthquake, will be favored in the upcoming recruitment, said Huang.

(Xinhua News Agency June 27, 2008)